WARDEN  CASSIDY 


ON 


PRISONS  AND  CONVICTS 


REMARKS 


FROM 


OBSERVATION  AND  EXPERIENCE  GAINED  DURING  THIRTY-SEVEN 

YEARS  CONTINUOUS  SERVICE  IN  THE  ADMINISTRATION 

OF  THE  EASTERN  STATE  PENITENTIARY, 

PENNSYLVANIA. 


ADDRESSED  TO  MEMBERS  OF  SOCIETIES  INTERESTED 
IN   PRISON   MANAGEMENT. 


PHILADELPHIA. 

PATTERSON  &  WHITE. 


C3 


Copyright,  1897, 

by 
MICHAEL  J.  CASSIDY. 


359753 


PREFACE. 


THE  Eastern  State  Penitentiary  of  Pennsylvania,  at  Philadelphia,  has 
perhaps  been  the  subject  of  more  comment  than  any  penal  institution 
in  the  United  States,  or  indeed  in  Europe.  It  was  established  in  1829. 

The  cause  is  explained  by  reason  of  the  method  of  confinement  and  the 
discipline  of  the  system  of  punishment,  which  was  original  with  that  insti- 
tution. It  is  the  only  one  so  governed  in  this  country,  while  several 
prisons  in  Europe  have  adopted  the  plan,  more  or  less  modified. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  misinformation  or  misconception,  and  positive 
ignorance,  exists  of  the  methods  in  practice  here,  even  among  otherwise 
careful  and  well-informed  sociologists. 

In  addition  to  this,  the  many  inquiries  that  are  constantly  made  as  to 
the  method  of  applying  punitive  treatment  in  this  institution  is  a  sufficient 
apology,  if  any  be  needed,  for  a  brief  statement  of  the  principles  of  the 
administration  and  their  practical  application  to  the  treatment  of  convicts 
sent  to  this  institution. 

Positive,  practical  knowledge  of  the  subject  in  its  various  phases  is 
regarded  as  of  some  value.  Theoretic  and  general  observations,  however 
well  presented,  often  fail  to  impress  the  inquirers  as  effectively  as  the 
opinions  which  experience  can  best  furnish. 

When  the  systems  of  convict  punishment,  and  especially  that  known  as 
"The  Individual  Treatment,"  as  applied  in  the  Eastern  State  Penitentiary, 
are  discussed  and  explained  by  competent  authority,  before  those  who  are 
expected  to  be  familiar  with  the  questions  involved,  it  necessarily  has  the 
merit  of  authoritative  statement  subjected  to  critical  examination.  It  is, 
therefore,  evidence  from  actual  practical  knowledge  and  experience. 

When  it  is  seen  that  the  remarks  contained  in  the  extracts  now  pre- 
sented were  addressed  to  those  who  were  engaged  in  the  administration  of 
systems  of  convict  punishment,  and  also  on  different  occasions,  during 
several  years,  it  adds  to  their  value,  because  those  to  whom  they  were 
addressed  were  competent  to  understand  and  criticise  them. 

It  will  be  observed  from  the  following  pages  that  there  are  many  sub- 
jects directly  connected  with  the  imprisonment  of  criminals  that  are  rarely 
considered.  To  indicate  the  range  of  these  subjects  and  their  importance 
in  the  study  and  decision  of  punitive  systems,  as  well  as  the  characteristics 
of  convicts  and  their  individual  relation  to  crime  and  the  adaptation  of 
punishment  to  each  person,  these  pages  contain  information  that  is  of 
importance  because  not  accessible  in  theoretic  disquisitions,  which  are  often 
superficial. 

It  is  practical  knowledge  which  long  experience  makes  veritable  that 
will  command  respect. 

The  extracts  from  official  reports,  and  discussions  at  public  meetings  of 
men  competent  to  understand  the  subjects  considered,  are  here  reproduced. 


- 


Richard  Vaux. 

THE  MEETING  OF  THE  NATIONAL  PRISON  ASSOCIATION,  HELD 
AT  DENVER,  COL.,  SEPTEMBER  14,  1895, 


Warden  Cassidy  presented  a  steel  engraving,  and  the  subjoined 
sketch  of  the  long  and  brilliant  service  of  the  Hon.  Richard  Vaux: 

IN  MEMORIAM. 

Hon.  Richard  Vaux  died  on  the  22d  day  of  March,  1895,  from 
a  cold  contracted  at  a  meeting  with  the  committee  on  appropria- 
tions of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  Pennsylvania 
at  the  penitentiary. 

Mr.  Vaux  was  first  appointed  an  inspector  of  the  institution 
January  /th,  1842,  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania,  and  was 
re-appointed  again  and  again  by  the  same  body  until  1873,  after 
which  time  he  was  repeatedly  appointed  by  the  Governors  of  the 
State.  The  date  of  his  last  commission  was  January  i8th,  1895, 
and  was  issued  by  Governor  Daniel  H.  Hastings. 

Mr.  Vaux  was  in  continuous  service  as  an  inspector  for  fifty- 
three  years,  two  months  and  fifteen  days,  was  secretary  of  the 
board  for  nine  years,  and  was  its  president  for  over  forty-three 
years.  He  was  president  of  the  board  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

It  was  a  high  tribute  to  Mr.  Vaux  that  he  was  kept  continually 
in  service  for  so  long  a  time,  and  it  was  beneficial  to  the  peniten- 
tiary. Anyone  visiting  the  institution  is  easily  convinced  that  as 
a  prison  it  does  not  have  its  equal.  Its  present  condition  is  due 
almost  entirely  to  the  fact  that  it  has  been  managed  on  the  same 
lines  for  so  many  years.  Its  methods  have  been  confirmed  by 
experience,  and  can  safely  be  relied  upon  to  produce  the  best  possi- 
ble results. 

The  life-work  of  Mr.  Vaux  is  without  parallel  in  penology 
for  it  can  be  truly  said  that  the  oversight  and  care  of  the  Eastern 
Penitentiary  and  of  its  inmates  was  his  distinctive  life-work.  He 
was  an  authority  on  penology,  not  only  in  Pennsylvania,  but  in 
Europe.  That  in  which  the  Eastern  State  Penitentiary  was  differ- 
ent at  first  from  any  other  institution  is  known  in  criminology  as 

5 


'''*  :  '  WARDEN 


ON  PRISONS  AND  CONVICTS. 

the  Pennsylvania  system,  and  was  the  outcome  of  the  best  thought 
of  the  Quaker  element  in  Philadelphia,  headed  by  Robert  Vaux, 
the  father  of  Richard  Vaux.  For  many  years  it  was  denounced  as 
cruel  and  barbarous,  tending  to  melancholia  and  insanity.  Time 
has  refuted  all  such  assertions,  and  now  the  solitary  system  as 
practiced  in  this  institution  is  commended  everywhere,  and  is  be- 
ing copied  and  put  into  practice  in  Massachusetts  and  elsewhere  in 
the  United  States,  and  in  many  cities  in  Europe. 

The  separation  of  prisoners  into  individual  cells  in  which  they 
work,  as  distinguished  from  the  congregate  in  workshops,  is  the 
peculiar  feature  of  the  system.  Mr.  Vaux  was  the  exponent  of  the 
system,  and  the  Eastern  State  Penitentiary  will  never  be  mentioned 
or  remembered  without  associating  his  name  with  it.  He  has 
stamped  it  with  his  own  individuality  and  characteristics.  To 
serve  continuously  for  fifty-three  years  for  the  good  and  uplifting 
of  unfortunate  human  beings,  and  that  without  pay,  reward,  or  ad- 
vantage, is  such  a  noble  self-sacrifice  that  it  should  enshrine  the 
name  and  memory  of  Mr.  Vaux  as  a  great  benefactor  of  his  race. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

lichard  Vaux 5,  6 

Acknowledging  reception  in  response  to  the  welcome  of  Mayor  Harri- 
son, of  Chicago,  to  the  conference  of  prison  officers  at  Chicago 

in  1884 9,  10 

Remarks  as  presiding  officer  Chicago  conference U 

Organization   of  prisons H-i.5 

Prison    discipline 15-17 

Individual   treatment 18-32 

Duties  of  a  prison  warden 25,  26 

Prison  construction — furnishing  and  graded  prison  system 32-41 

Education 41,  42,  52,  53 

Relation  of  intemperance  to  crime 42-44 

Treatment  of  criminals 44-46 

Prison  statistics 46-48 

Reformation  of  prisons 48-49 

Religious    instruction — schools 49-54 

Motive  of  imprisonment 54 

Increase  of  crime 54 

Intermediate   sentence 55-57 

Prison  dietary,  use  of  tobacco,  etc 57-63 

Prison  Labor — contract  labor — separate  system 63-93 

Insanity    93~96 

Bertillon  system  for  registration  of  prisoners 97,  98 

Prisons  visited  in  Ireland,  England,  France,  and  Belgium,  and  what  I 

saw— 1890 98-119 

istern  Penitentiary 1 19-122 


WARDEN  CASSIDY 


ON 


PRISONS  AND  CONVICTS. 


Acknowledging  Reception  at  Chicago,  J884. 

THE  OPENING  OF  THE  CONFERENCE  OF  OFFICERS  OF  PRISONS 
AND  REFORMATORIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  HELD 
AT  CHICAGO,  DECEMBER  9-11,  1884, 

response  to  the  welcome  of  the  body  to  the  city  by  Mayor  Car- 
Harrison,  Mr.  Cassidy  spoke  as  follows: 

I  am  sure  that  the  gentlemen  assembled  here  from  the  differ- 
t  sections  of  the  United  States  will  fully  agree  with  me  in  return- 
ing cordial  thanks  to  his  honor,  Mayor  Harrison,  for  the  kind 
welcome  he  has  given  us  to  his  well-governed  city  of  Chicago. 

t)m  the  remarks  his  honor  has  made  it  is  evident  that  he  has  been 
slow  student  of  the  question  of  crime,  its  causes  and  its  preven- 
i.     The  gentlemen  here  represent  nearly  every   State  in  the 
ion,  and  they  have  had  more  or  less  connection  with  the  crimi- 
classes.     I  may  say  that  the  reputation  of  Chicago  abroad  is 
9 


IO  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

that  it  is  the  best  police  governed  city  in  the  United  States.  The 
mayor  here  is  said  to  be  the  chief  of  police;  and  there  can  be  no 
government  so  good  as  a  one-man  government,  when  the  man  has 
power  to  enforce  his  views,  and  is  the  right  man  for  the  office, — 
which  proves  to  be  the  fact  in  the  case  of  Chicago.  No  city  has 
more  need  of  good  government  in  this  respect  than  Chicago. 
Chicago  is  a  large  city.  Everything  is  large  connected  with  it. 
Its  hotels  are  both  extensive  and  magnificent;  its  streets  are  large 
and  wide;  and  the  buildings  are  spacious  and  high.  Everything 
is  big  and  spread  out.  It  is  a  great  railroad  center,  and  conse- 
quently it  is  a  crime-class  center.  I  was  going  to  say  that  there  is 
no  city  in  the  United  States  which  has  the  same  amount  of  facilities 
for  the  centralization,  transportation,  and  distribution  of  the  crime- 
class  throughout  the  country,  as  Chicago.  New  York  is  a  crime- 
class  center.  Their  facilities  for  organizing  robberies  into  differ- 
ent sections  of  the  country  is  perhaps  greater  than  those  of  Chi- 
cago. The  police  of  New  York  are  organized  on  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent basis.  The  mayor  of  New  York  is  not  the  chief  of  police, — 
the  government  of  the  force  is  in  the  hands  of  a  board  of  police 
commissioners.  No  city  in  the  country  has  as  much  actual  service 
performed  by  its  chief  magistrate  as  the  city  of  Chicago. 

This  meeting  of  prison  officers,  as  I  understand  it,  is  for  the 
purpose  of  an  exchange  of  views  in  regard  to  the  treatment  of  a 
class  of  people  who  make  up  prison  populations,  and  the  treatment 
of  juvenile  offenders  so  as  to  prevent  them  from  becoming  a  part 
of  the  crime-class.  Many  of  those  present  will  probably  take  di- 
rectly opposite  views  of  the  subjects  discussed  and  the  methods  of 
accomplishing  what  they  desire;  but  their  aims  and  objects  are  the 
same. 

I  can  only  say  that,  from  the  kind  welcome  we  have  received, 
and  the  ample  facilities  that  have  been  afforded  us  by  the  proprie- 
tors of  the  hotels  and  the  citizens  of  Chicago,  that  all  efforts  we 
shall  make  in  the  direction  of  benefiting  society  will  be  attributed 
to  the  fact,  as  his  honor  has  just  said,  that  everything  great  that  is 
to  be  done  in  the  country  now  must  be  done  in  Chicago.  The  old 
order  of  things  has  been  entirely  reversed.  Wisdom  was  sought 
in  the  East,  and  all  wisdom  was  supposed  to  come  from  there;  but 
it  is  not  the  Star  of  the  East  the  wise  man  follows  now, — he  must 
go  westward,  and  follow  the  evening  star. 


WARDEN  CASSIDY  ON  PRISONS  AND  CONVICTS.  II 

AT  THE  CONFERENCE  OF  OFFICERS  OF  PRISONS  AND  REFORMA- 
TORIES, HELD  IN  THE  ClTY  OF  CHICAGO,  DECEMBER 

9-1 1,  1884, 


r.  Cassidy  was  chosen  president,  and,  on  taking  the  chair,  made 
the  following  brief  address : 

Gentlemen  and  Fellow-Workers  in  the  Same  Vineyard:  I  do  not 
know  how  to  begin;  and  the  important  part  in  all  matters  that  are 
undertaken  in  life  is  in  the  beginning.  But  I  thank  you  for  this 
consideration,  which  is  entirely  undeserved.  If  I  were  to  make 
any  apologies  for  inability  or  other  disqualification,  I  would  simply 
be  following  the  old  routine  in  such  matters.  All  I  can  say  and 
ask  of  you  is  that  you  will  extend  the  same  indulgence  to  me  that 
you  do  to  your  prisoners  who  lack  the  ability  to  perform  all  that  is 
required  of  them.  Any  errors  that  I  may  make  will  be  entirely 
errors  of  judgment  and  inability,  and  I  expect  your  indulgence  in 
these  matters.  There  is  a  large  amount  of  work  to  be  done,  and  I 
would  ask  gentlemen  to  confine  themselves,  as  nearly  as  possible, 
to  the  subjects  that  come  before  the  conference.  Subjects  will  be 
submitted  covering  the  whole  ground  of  the  management,  disci- 
pline, and  improvement  of  prisoners,  and  there  will  be  abundant 
opportunity  for  the  expression  of  every  form  of  opinion  in  relation 
thereto.  Without  wasting  any  more  time,  let  me  ask  you  now  to 
roceed  to  business. 


Organization  of  Prisons* 


IT  THE  CONFERENCE  OF  OFFICERS  OF  PRISONS  AND  REFORMA- 
TORIES, HELD  AT  CHICAGO,  DECEMBER  9-11,  1884, 

Mr.  Cassidy,  being  president  of  the  meeting,  was,  contrary  to  the 
usual  custom,  and  by  special  request  of  the  conference,  prevailed 
upon  to  open  the  discussion  on  the  topic  of  "Organization  of 
Prisons." 

His  remarks  were  as  follows: 

It  is  unusual  for  the  chair  to  take  part  in  discussions ;  but  this 
is  the  beginning,  and  all  things  that  are  done,  if  they  are  done  well 
at  all,  have  to  be  commenced  right.  The  difficulty  in  this  matter 
is  in  the  ability  of  the  performer  to  begin  as  he  ought  to.  There  is 
no  part  of  the  business  of  prison-keeping  as  important  as  the  selec- 


12  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS. 

tion  of  the  people  who  are  to  do  the  work.  More  ability  and  ca- 
pacity are  required  for  a  prison-keeper  than  for  almost  any  other 
business  in  life.  Mechanical  trades  are  taught  and  acquired  by 
habit,  t^Nhere  individuals  are  subjected  to  discipline,  it  requires  a 
study  and  capacity  that  few  men  possess.  There  are  so  many 
things  required  that  it  is  difficult  to  find  one  now  able  to  cover  the 
whole  ground.  Adaptability  is  one  of  the  important  essentials  of 
prison  officers.  There  are  many  men  who  are  qualified  for  almost 
any  business  of  life  that  they  adopt;  but  take  them  out  of  that  busi- 
ness, and  put  them  into  another,  and,  lacking  ability  for  that  call- 
ing, they  make  a  failure.  Prison-keeping  should  be  made  a  voca- 
tion, not  a  mere  employment,  as  you  would  hire  an  individual  to  do 
some  work  for  you.  But  there  are  many  outside  issues  entering 
into  the  appointment  of  prison  officials,  that  those  who  have  the 
appointments  to  make  feel  embarrassed  in  making  proper  selec- 
tions. 

The  guards  in  a  prison  are  supposed  to  be  nothing  more  than 
guards  occupying  a  position  somewhat  similar  to  sentries  in  an 
army,  standing  on  their  po-sts.  Their  business  is  presumed  to  have 
very  little  to  do  with  prison-keeping.  It  is  the  general  impression 
that  wardens  of  prisons  are  generally  selected  for  what  ability  they 
possess  at  the  time  of  their  appointment.  Frequently,  however, 
their  ability  does  not  enter  into  any  of  the  reasons  why  they  are 
appointed.  Their  employes  are  very  often  selected  for  them  with- 
out any  regard  to  the  positions  they  are  required  to  fill. 

One  general  source  of  complaint  is  that  politics  interferes  with 
the  employment  of  people  connected  with  prisons.  That  is  perni- 
cious, in  every  sense  of  the  word.  While  every  man  in  this  coun- 
try ought  to  take  an  active  interest  in  the  government,  the  fact  of 
his  taking  such  an  active  interest,  and  adhering  to  the  principles 
of  any  of  the  political  organizations,  should  not  interfere  in  any 
way  with  the  transaction  of  his  business.  Because  an  individual 
may  have  preferences,  or  fixed  principles,  in  regard  to  government, 
should  be  no  disqualification  for  his  being  an  efficient  prison  offi- 
cer. But  that  is  not  the  evil.  The  evil  is  that  men  are  assigned 
to  positions  in  prisons  simply  because  some  one  of  political  influ- 
ence wishes  to  find  a  place  for  them.  That  practice  is  wrong. 
There  should  be  no  test  of  a  prison  employe  other  than  a  test  of  his 
honesty  and  adaptability  for  the  work.  It  is  a  fallacy  to  believe 
that  you  can  take  a  man  from  off  the  streets  and  make  him  a 


,_      " 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  13 


prison-keeper.  In  all  prisons  there  should  be  grades  of  officers. 
The  first  grade  should  be  that  of  the  least  important  service,  as  far 
as  the  treatment  of  individuals  is  concerned.  The  men  in  that 
grade  should  be  regarded  as  on  trial,  for  there  is  no  way  to  ascer- 
tain a  man's  fitness  but  by  experience  in  the  business  he  is  engaged 
in.  If  he  is  capable  of  intelligently  performing  the  work  to  which 
he  is  first  assigned,  he  may  be  taught  other  parts  of  the  business 
he  will  be  expected  to  perform  in  the  future;  so  that,  when  a  va- 
cancy occurs,  you  have  a  man  on  hand  to  fill  it.  The  appointment 
of  those  people  should  be  entirely  in  the  control  of  the  chief  officer 
of  the  prison,  without  any  interference  by  outside  authorities.  All 
wardens  are  held  responsible  for  the  care  and  management  of  their 
prisons,  and  they  should  not  be  held  responsible  for  mistakes  that 
arise  through  the  incompetency  of  persons  sent  them  by  politi- 
cians or  others  having  influence  in  the  State.  The  public  demands 
that  a  warden  should  be  efficient,  and  that  he  is  the  proper  author- 
ity to  run  the  prison.  Where  you  invest  a  man  with  that  responsi- 
bility, authority  must  follow.  The  two  cannot  be  separated.  The 
persistent  individuals  who  seek  appointment  for  their  friends  are 
not  responsible  for  any  occurrence  that  may  take  place  in  prison. 
The  warden  is  the  responsible  party,  and  he  ought  to  have  entire 
authority  over  the  men  who  are  to  do  the  work.  Any  mechanic 
who  has  been  trained  to  a  business  requires  tools  with  which  to  do 
his  work.  He  ought  to  be  capable  of  putting  his  tools  in  order, 
provided  that  the  tools  are  of  such  a  character  that  they  can  be 
kept  in  order.  If  he  is  given  a  tool  that  will  not  bear  repairing,  or 
that  he  cannot  put  in  order,  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  do  his  work 
as  it  should  be  done.  It  is  just  so  in  regard  to  prison  officers.  If 
men  are  selected  who  have  not  the  capacity,  and  cannot  be  taught 
to  do  the  work,  it  is  useless  to  continue  with  that  kind  of  tools. 

I  think  a  training-school  for  prison  officers  is  very  desirable. 
I  would  suggest  that,  at  the  close  of  each  day,  the  officers  of  the 
prison  should  be  assembled  in  the  warden's  office,  or  some  other 
apartment,  and  be  instructed  by  the  warden  as  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  work  ought  to  be  done;  the  relations  they  hold  toward 
the  prisoners,  and  the  relations  they  hold  toward  the  authorities. 
Instruction  of  that  kind  will  make  efficient  officers,  provided  they 
have  the  adaptability.  The  question  of  pay  is  a  matter  of  consider- 
able importance.  The  more  efficient,  and  those  longest  in  the  ser- 
vice, should  receive  the  highest  compensation.  Those  in  the  lower 


14  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS. 

grade,  when  first  employed,  should  receive  the  lowest  compensa- 
tion; and  as  they  are  promoted,  and  their  capabilities  developed, 
they  can  be  advanced  in  pay,  so  as  to  cover  the  ground  of  the 
smallest  salary  in  the  beginning.  When  it  is  generally  understood 
that  their  continuance  in  service  depends  on  their  fidelity  and  effi- 
ciency, and  that  they  cannot  be  removed  except  for  good  cause, 
they  will  all  take  greater  interest  in  their  work.  When  a  prison 
officer  arrives  at  a  stage  where  his  salary  is,  say  $900  per  annum, 
he  is  receiving  what  would  be  the  interest  on  a  capital  of  $15,000. 
He  has  just  that  much  capital  invested  in  his  position.  Now,  any 
man  who  has  his  capital  invested  in  railroads,  real  estate,  or  any 
other  ventures,  is  continually  anxious  about  its  safety.  It  would 
be  so  with  the  prison  officer,  if  his  tenure  of  office  was  secure. 
His  great  care  would  be  to  so  perform  his  duties  as  to  render  his 
position  secure,  or  to  keep  his  capital  safe.  Until  such  a  system, 
or  something  similar  to  it,  is  adopted,  the  prisons  of  the  country 
will  suffer  to  a  more  or  less  extent. 

With  regard  to  the  inmates, — it  requires  time  and  experience, 
study  and  thought,  and  adaptability,  to  manage  them  rightly. 
The  training  of  the  prison  officers  is  a  very  important  matter.  It 
requires  very  little  time,  and  you  have  all  your  men  at  once  before 
you.  They  are  brought  face  to  face;  they  hear  authoritatively 
what  is  required  of  them;  there  is  no  conflict  of  action.  One  can- 
not say,  "Well,  I  did  not  know  that;  I  never  heard  it  before."  It 
secures  a  uniformity  of  action,  and  consequently  prevents  many 
errors  that  are  commonly  made  by  prison  officers.  In  the  employ- 
ment of  prison  officers,  the  necessary  qualifications  should  be  in- 
quired into.  Age  is  an  important  question;  no  one  should  be 
taken  on  trial  who  is  over  thirty  years  old.  Previous  employment 
should  be  looked  at.  All  prison  officers  should  be  mechanics  of 
some  kind.  Mechanics  are  just  as  easily  procured  as  other  men, 
and  their  knowledge  of  the  people  is  better  than  that  of  the  ordin- 
ary men  you  find  in  no  permanent  business.  Besides,  there  are 
matters  about  a  prison  that  always  require  the  attention  of  per- 
sons who  have  a  knowledge  of  mechanics.  If  you  have  such  per- 
sons around  you,  you  can  always  perform  all  the  work  you  have 
to  do  in  a  prison  without  running  after  outside  help.  Mechanics 
who  have  been  brought  up  to  a  trade  are  generally  a  better  class  of 
men.  Their  temptations  to  crime  and  vice  have  not  been  so  great 
as  those  of  others  who  have  been  living  promiscuously  and  en- 


THE  WARDEN. 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  15 

staged  in  any  business  they  could  find  to  do.  The  best  evidence  of 
that  is  that  skilled  mechanics  do  not  get  into  State's  prison  as  a 
general  thing.  When  they  do,  it  is  generally  for  crimes  against  the 
person.  That  is  the  best  evidence  that  people  who  are  educated  to 
labor  do  not  drift  into  the  criminal  class.  Many  of  them  become 
worthless  and  dissipated,  and  will  go  to  the  extreme  of  poverty 
through  dissipation,  and  then  get  into  the  county  jail  or  house  of 
correction  as  vagrants,  and  afterward  recover  and  go  back  to  work. 
They  do  not  go  on  the  road  as  professional  thieves.  There  are  few 
persons  having  a  knowledge  of  mechanics  among  professional 
thieves.  There  is  rarely  ever  a  mechanic  among  the  gang  who 
engage  in  bank  robberies.  It  is  difficult  for  them  to  find  a  man  to 
do  the  mechanical  part  of  their  work ;  and  the  man  is  generally  en- 
titled  to  the  largest  share  of  the  booty  when  it  is  got.  As  a  gen- 
eral thing,  those  gangs  have  to  go  outside  of  their  own  company 
for  a  mechanic.  Mechanics  do  not  make  up  any  part  of  prison 
population,  and  they  make  the  best  prison  officers  when  they  have 
sufficient  time  for  training.  The  system  of  political  changes 
should  never  be  applied  to  prisons  in  any  State.  There  are  enough 
other  positions,  coming  under  the  head  of  political  appointments, 
to  meet  the  legitimate  demand  of  those  seeking  such  employment; 
and  the  prison  should  be  left  alone  and  outside  the  pale  of  political 
preferment. 


Prison  Discipline, 


NATIONAL  PRISON  ASSOCIATION,  HELD  AT  DETROIT,  MICH., 
OCTOBER  20,  1885. 

The  subject  of  Prison  Discipline  being  under  discussion,  Mr. 
Cassidy  was  called  upon  to  preside,  and  upon  taking  the  chair 
made  the  following  remarks : 

I  can  assure  you  that  however  we  may  differ  in  methods,  in 
our  aims  we  are  one.  The  increase  of  efficiency  and  the  elevation 
of  the  character  and  capacities  of  prison  officers  we  all  have  at 
heart. 

Less  than  two  years  ago,  under  the  direction  of  the  Prison 
Association  of  New  York,  an  informal  meeting  of  prison  officers 
was  convened  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  in  that  city.  For  the 


l6  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

first  time  many  of  us  met,  without  any  personal  knowledge  of  each 
other,  without  any  preparation  or  even  an  idea  of  what  was  ex- 
pected to  be  accomplished  by  the  project,  nor  did  the  directors  of 
the  association  know  what  would  be  the  result  of  the  bringing 
together  of  persons  of  whom  they  had  no  knowledge  beyond  the 
fact  of  their  connection  with  prisons  throughout  the  United  States. 

The  conference  was  continued  for  several  days,  and  was  pro- 
ductive of  such  good  results  that  another  meeting  was  determined 
upon,  and  a  general  invitation  was  extended  to  all  officials  of  pris- 
ons and  reformatories  in  the  United  States  to  a  conference  which 
was  held  in  Chicago,  in  December,  1884. 

The  proceedings  of  both  meetings  have  been  published. 
Much  information  was  imparted  as  to  the  management  of  the  dif- 
ferent institutions  represented,  benefiting  all  who  participated  in 
the  conference. 

All  the  special  interests,  industries,  and  vocations  throughout 
the  country  are  having  annual  conferences  for  their  mutual  interest 
and  benefit,  and  the  advancement  of  the  interests  in  which  they 
are  engaged. 

The  management  of  prisons  and  reformatories,  the  care  of 
thousands  of  individuals  in  the  several  institutions,  is  of  as  much 
importance  to  the  community  as  any  other  public  interest.  The 
selection,  education,  and  training  of  prison  officers  is  as  much  a 
public  necessity  as  the  training  of  railroad  officials  and  employes 
who  are  advanced  through  the  lower  grades  of  yard  men  and  train 
hands  until  they  become  competent  for  the  higher  positions.  The 
safety  of  the  lives  and  property  of  the  people  doing  business  with 
railroads,  and  the  interests  of  the  company  owning  the  roads,  de- 
mand that  the  employes,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest,  shall  be 
competent  and  efficient,  and  to  be  so  they  must  have  a  special  edu- 
cation to  this  end. 

All  the  various  professions,  trades,  and  vocations  in  which 
people  are  engaged  require  a  special  training  before  efficiency  is  at- 
tained. To  take  people  out  of  the  ordinary  walks  of  life  without 
any  special  training  or  adaptation  and  place  them  in  positions  of 
teachers,  directors,  custodians,  and  disciplinarians  of  individuals 
under  punishment  for  crime,  is  as  absurd  and  as  injurious  to  the 
public  interest,  as  well  as  that  of  prisoners,  as  to  commission  doc- 
tors, lawyers,  or  mechanics  without  preliminary  special  qualifica- 
tions. 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  17 

Yet  prison  officials  through  all  grades  are  largely — perhaps 
generally — selected  for  some  personal  or  political  reason  wholly 
irrelevant  to  the  question  of  qualification. 

Prison  reform  is  the  principal  object  of  this  conference.  By 
that  is  generally  understood  the  reform  of  prisoners,  the  selection 
of  the  best  system,  and  surely  it  ought  also  to  mean  reform  in  the 
mode  of  selecting  prison  officers. 

The  only  way  to  reform  any  criminal  class  is  to  teach  them  to 
appreciate  the  value  of  industry.  Make  labor  a  duty.  Labor  is 
not  a  punishment  in  any  sense,  anywhere,  or  under  any  condition 
of  circumstances.  One  of  the  usual  sentences  of  the  Court,  or  a 
part  of  the  sentence,  is  "imprisonment  at  hard  labor."  It  was  a 
great  mistake  on  the  part  of  the  lawmakers  who  enacted  that  labor 
should  be  a  penalty  for  crime.  The  drones  of  society  do  nothing, 
and  to  make  labor  a  punishment  for  crime  was  either  a  mistake  of 
thoughtlessness  or  ignorance. 

In  the  institution  with  which  I  am  connected  labor  is  the 
essential  element  in  the  reform  training  of  the  individual,  and 
through  it  he  becomes  accustomed  to  habits  of  industry,  proficient 
in  the  use  of  tools,  is  made  to  feel  that  he  has  ability  within  himself 
for  the  earning  of  an  honest  livelihood;  is  "coached"  and  urged — 
not  driven — to  develop  these,  until  many  go  out  fair  workmen  to 
begin  a  new  and  better  life,  to  their  own  benefit  and  that  of  the 
community. 

The  severest  punishment  in  our  institution  is  the  deprivation 
of  labor.  The  very  first  thing  we  do  to  an  unruly  prisoner  is  to 
take  the  tools  and  material  away  from  him.  Labor  is  a  privilege. 
Many  of  the  prisoners  have  earned  considerable  amounts  by  their 
labor,  and  when  their  work  is  taken  from  them,  as  a  punishment, 
the  cost  of  their  daily  keep  is  charged  against  their  surplus  earn- 
ings. Under  the  operation  of  this  rule  there  are  few  infractions  of 
s  prison  laws,  and  these  few  quickly  repent  and  make  terms  with  the 
|  authorities  to  begin  work. 

But  our  subject  is  more  directly  prison  punishments.  There 
is  no  subject  connected  with  prisons  that  has  been  so  much  talked 
j  about  as  punishments,  and  scarcely  one  of  which  there  is  so  little 
of  actual  truth  known  to  the  community  at  large.  Since  the 
Prison  Association  of  the  United  States  has  been  collecting  the 
wardens  and  officers  of  the  different  institutions  together,  far  more 
information  has  been  developed  on  this  subject  than  in  all  the  years 
previous. 


l8  WARDEN  CASSIDY  ON  PRISONS  AND  CONVICTS. 

NATIONAL  PRISON  ASSOCIATION,  HELD  AT  DENVER,  COL., 
SEPTEMBER  14,  1895. 

INDIVIDUAL  TREATMENT. 

Mr.  Cassidy,  as  president  of  the  Chicago  conference,  where 
were  discussed  at  great  length,  prison  construction,  discipline,  sys- 
tems, etc.,  in  which  he  contended  for  a  better  understanding  of  the 
system  administered  at  Philadelphia,  in  adjourning  the  conference, 
said: 

As  the  time  has  arrived  to  adjourn  this  conference  without 
day,  I  would  like  to  express  my  thanks  to  you  all,  collectively  and 
individually,  for  the  great  kindness  I  have  received  at  your  hands, 
and  for  the  indulgent  manner  in  which  you  have  borne  with  me  in 
discharging  the  duties  of  chairman.  During  our  meeting  no  un- 
kindness  of  spirit  has  been  evinced,  but  many  friendships  have 
been  formed  that  otherwise  would  not  have  taken  place.  Prison 
people  have  the  reputation  of  being  hard-hearted,  cruel  men;  but 
their  intercourse  with  each  other  here  has  not  proved  that  to  b( 
the  fact.  I  am  very  much  pleased  to  know  that  when  we  go  froi 
here  there  is  not  a  ruffle  of  unkindness  in  the  breast  of  any  one 
us.  I  extend  to  you  all  a  cordial  invitation  to  visit  the  Easter 
Penitentiary  at  Philadelphia,  at  any  time  you  can  make  it  conveni- 
ent to  do  so, — any  day  of  the  month,  any  day  of  the  week,  any 
time,  day  or  night,  or  Sundays.  In  conclusion,  I  would  say  that, 
while  I  like  the  congregation  that  is  assembled  here,  I  still  love 
them  individually. 

The  subject  of  Prison  Discipline  being  under  discussion,  Mr. 
Cassidy  spoke  as  follows: 

It  would  seem  to  me,  from  the  tone  of  these  papers,  that  each 
prison  warden  made  a  system  of  his  own,  and  the  whole  put  to- 
gether would  result  in  no  system  at  all.  Discipline  has  been  con- 
fined almost  entirely  to  the  prisoner,  and  it  has  been  go-as-you- 
please  for  the  officers.  The  most  important  part  of  the  manage- 
ment of  a  prison  is  with  reference  to  the  subordinate  officers. 
Their  selection  is  of  the  utmost  importance.  Application  is  made 
to  the  warden  of  the  prison,  if  he  is  the  authority  for  the  employ- 
ment of  the  individuals,  in  writing.  The  application  must  be  in  the 
handwriting  of  the  individual  making  the  application,  and  it  must 
state  his  age,  business,  residence,  his  former  occupation,  if  a 
mechanic  his  trade.  The  applications  are  put  on  file,  and  when 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  IQ 

a  vacancy  occurs  the  warden  looks  over  the  applications  and 
sends  for  the  individual  and  that  is  the  end  of  the  business.  He  is 
then  employed  in  the  lowest  grade  of  service  as  night  watchman. 
There  may  be  ten,  more  or  less,  according  to  the  size  of  the 
prison  and  the  number  of  inmates.  They  receive  $650  a  year. 
They  are  on  duty  from  7  P.M.  to  7  A.M.,  one-half  outside  in  the  yard 
and  one-half  inside.  The  half  outside  pass  through  the  center 
when  the  overseers  remain  all  night,  so  that  the  safety  of  the  prison 
is  known  within  at  least  half  an  hour.  Time  tell-tales  do  not  answer 
the  purpose,  because  if  you  have  those  things  the  officer  will  attend 
to  his  tell-tale  if  he  neglects  everything  else.  Supervision  is  the 
proper  word.  That  is  the  principal  guide  and  the  principal  safety 
of  prisons.  When  a  vacancy  occurs  in  any  of  the  departments,  in 
the  making  of  shoes  or  wood  work  or  iron  work  or  anything  of  that 
sort,  the  night  watchman  you  deem  most  capable  for  that  is  placed 
in  that  division  and  he  gets  $800  a  year.  When  he  has  been  five 
years  in  the  service  he  gets  $900. 

That  is  about  as  long  as  any  of  them  remain,  though  fre- 
quently there  are  several  of  that  status.  In  that  way  you  secure  in- 
telligence, but  they  require  to  be  drilled  and  taught.  Prison-keep- 
ing is  not  a  business  that  anyone  can  pick  up,  it  is  a  vocation  and 
unless  there  is  an  inducement  for  a  man  to  enter  the  service  and 
remain  in  it  and  improve  they  are  of  no  use.  Every  Monday  night 
all  the  officers  of  the  prison  assemble  in  the  warden's  office,  and 
then  they  get  whatever  instructions  it  is  necessary  for  them  to  have 
in  reference  to  any  of  the  duties  that  they  may  be  required  to  per- 
form. 

There  is  then  no  misunderstanding.  They  can  never  say,  "I 
did  not  know  that,"  or  "I  was  never  told  that."  That  method 
brings  the  men  face  to  face,  and  if  there  has  been  any  misconduct 
some  of  them  will  be  shaky  and  generally  it  comes  out.  Misde- 
meanors in  officers  cannot  be  hidden  as  a  general  rule.  No  recom- 
mendation or  outside  influence  has  any  force  whatever  in  the  em- 
ployment of  individuals  in  prison. 

Any  trivial  offense  committed  in  shops  would  have  to  be  taken 
charge  of  immediately,  but  where  they  are  treated  as  individuals, 
and  there  is  no  other  prisoner  to  be  damaged  the  treatment  may 
be  different.  It  must  be  known  that  a  man  cannot  violate  rules 
without  notice  being  taken  of  it.  It  keeps  the  prison  secure  from 
many  things  that  prisoners  do  in  other  prisons.  Penalties? 


2O  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

There  is  no  law  about  penalties.  You  can  make  no  prison  rule 
about  penalties.  I  was  surprised  at  the  friend  from  Kentucky 
stating  his  utter  abhorrence  at  giving  bread  and  water.  Why, 
there  is  divine  authority  for  that.  "Thou  shalt  earn  thy  bread  by 
the  sweat  of  thy  face."  The  man  who  does  not  earn  any  bread  is 
'not  entitled  to  a  great  deal.  Besides  it  is  the  most  reasonable  and 
sensible  way  of  treating  a  person.  He  has  time  to  think  over  his 
condition,  and  he  knows  the  remedy.  All  he  has  to  do  is  to  send 
for  authority  and  confess.  There  are  commutation  laws  and 
good  time  laws  that  take  off  so  much  of  'the  original  sentence, 
under  the  arbitrary  authority  of  the  prison  warden.  They  may  be 
of  service  in  a  congregate  prison,  but  they  are  of  no  practical  use 
in  an  individual  prison.  In  all  my  time  I  know  of  but  one  who 
has  been  deprived  of  the  commutation  law.  It  is  a  compromise  to 
assist  the  prison  officers  in  keeping  order  in  shops,  but  is  of  no  use 
for  the  treatment  of  a  man  difficult  to  manage.  Many  good  men 
will  lose  their  temper,  while  others  who  do  not  lose  their  temper 
get  the  benefit  of  the  commutation  law,  and  others  who  are  far 
better  do  not  get  it.  In  shops  it  is  necessary  to  act  peremptorily — 
to  take  the  prisoner  out  and  inflict  what  punishment  you  choose. 
Sometimes  the  fault  is  caused  by  others  round  him,  and  he  con- 
siders it  injustice  that  they  all  do  not  get  the  same.  The  discipline 
of  prisoners  is  summed  up  in  punishment,  in  training,  in  means 
of  improvement.  So  much  work  or  that  is  the  penalty.  Accord- 
ing to  the  returns  made  by  prison  officers  there  is  no  prison  sys- 
tem only  such  as  the  prison  officers  choose  to  invent.  The  Penn- 
sylvania system  is  a  system.  It  matters  not  who  is  in  charge  the 
system  will  go  on  just  the  same.  The  warden  does  not  deserve 
any  credit,  because  the  system  is  a  fact  by  itself.  It  will  go  on  all 
the  time. 

There  has  never  been  any  outside  interference  of  politics  or 
politicians  or  others  in  the  establishment  of  the  corps  of  managers 
in  the  Pennsylvania  prisons.  We  have  heard  a  good  deal  about 
politicians.  Politics  are  as  necessary  as  business. 

Men  enter  politics  for  business.  So  far  as  honesty  is  con- 
cerned, they  will  average  with  the  business  or  manufacturing  peo- 
ple of  the  country.  Manufacturers  take  all  sorts  of  short  cuts  to 
cheat  one  another  or  other  people.  The  politician  takes  advantage 
of  his  opponent  to  get  ahead  of  him.  Every  man  ought  to  be  a 
politician  more  or  less,  so  long  as  he  does  not  interfere  with  his 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  21 

neighbor.  Every  man  ought  to  stand  up  and  be  counted.  But 
politics  should  never  enter  into  prison  management.  No  one,  be- 
cause he  is  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  should  have  the  right  to 
interfere  with  the  staff. 

Insanity  is  one  of  the  bugbears  generally  advanced  by  theo- 
rists, who  know  nothing  about  it,  as  a  danger  from  the  individual 
system.  At  one  time  the  Charlestown  prison  was  considered  the 
best  managed  under  the  Auburn  system,  and  statistics  were 
kept  there  for  ten  years  in  comparison  with  the  Eastern  Peniten- 
tiary of  insanity  developed  in  prison,  and  the  statistics  were  largely 
against  Massachusetts.  There  is  nothing  in  these  theories.  All 
intelligent  people  who  have  been  decent  before  they  come  to  prison 
much  prefer  to  be  alone.  Our  cells  are  large,  eight  by  sixteen, 
and  eleven  feet  high,  and  we  have  been  compelled  to  put  two  in  a 
room.  People  come  to  prison  who  are  not  criminals,  never  were, 
and  never  will  be.  It  is  not  fair  to  treat  them  as  if  they  were  of  the 
criminal  'class. 

Bank  embezzlers,  clerks  who  lived  too  fast — and  that  is 
largely  on  the  increase — bank  presidents,  cashiers,  heads  of  insti- 
tutions, all  of  that  sort  come  to  prison,  and  it  is  not  fair  to  treat 
them  like  the  fellow  that  comes  from  the  slums.  They  must  all 
keep  clean,  and  those  who  have  tidy  habits  can  do  it.  They  have 
water  in  their  rooms,  and  a  bath  once  a  week.  They  have  a  water 
closet,  electric  light  and  meals  served  in  their  rooms  without  any 
extra  charge.  Any  one  who  will  take  up  the  subject  of  the  different 
treatment  of  people  in  prison,  and  will  give  the  Pennsylvania  sys- 
tem a  fair  share  of  their  intelligence  will  naturally  come  to  the  con- 
clusion that  it  is  the  only  satisfactory  treatment  of  individuals  for 
crime.  There  are  so  many  new  things  that  come  up  in  prison 
discipline  and  in  prison  science  that  interfere  with  somebody  else. 
We  get  up  commutation  laws.  That  is  an  interference  with  au- 
thority. Now  they  have  got  up  the  indeterminate  sentence  law. 
That  is  a  compromise  with  crime.  It  is  a  dangerous  procedure  in 
any  civilized  country  to  go  behind  the  authority  of  the  properly 
constituted  court,  for  in  the  court  is  the  only  safety  of  the  citizen. 
If  the  determination  of  the  court  can  be  altered  promiscuously  life 
is  not  safe.  If  there  were  power  to  go  behind  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  country  it  would  destroy  the  whole  ramification  of  our  gov- 
ernment, and  the  power  to  go  behind  the  ordinary  court  has  the 
same  effect.  The  indeterminate  sentence  and  the  parole  are  being 


22  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

introduced  in  this  country  in  the  management  of  criminals  as 
though  they  were  something  new.  It  is  not  new.  It  is  not  an 
American  patent.  The  patent  right  was  taken  out  years  ago  in 
Ireland  by  Sir  Walter  Crofton  and  Mr.  McConochie.  They  had 
all  the  means  they  wanted.  They  did  not  have  to  ask  for  appro- 
priations, but  the  whole  thing  wore  itself  off.  The  great  prison  is 
abandoned  entirely,  and  we  take  up  the  idea  and  launch  it  out  as  a 
brand-new  American  idea  and  apply  to  the  patent  office  for  a 
patent. 

Q. — Don't  your  officers  ask  you  to  deal  with  individual  cases? 

A. — Always.  There  is  no  case  that  is  not  reported  to  the  war- 
den. The  warden  has  no  private  office.  His  private  office  is  in 
the  center,  that  he  may  know  what  his  officers  are  doing.  It  is 
necessary  that  he  should  be  convenient  to  his  officers,  for  the  first 
five  minutes  is  the  most  important  time,  often. 

Q. — How  many  prisoners  have  you? 

A.— 1358. 

Q. — How  many  cells? 

A.— 780. 

Q. — That  is  nearly  two  men  in  a  cell? 

A.— Yes. 

Q. — Do  I  understand  you,  that  you  have  abandoned  the  sepa- 
rate system? 

A.— No. 

Q. — You  have  not  cells  to  keep  them  separate? 

A. — No;  to  our  regret.  That  is  not  the  fault  of  the  system. 
It  is  the  fault  of  the  State. 

Q. — Doesn't  that  show  that  the  State  does  not  believe  in  the 
system? 

A. — Not  at  all.  The  doubling  up  of  prisoners  is  pernicious, 
but  it  is  better  to  put  two  together  than  to  put  twenty  together. 

Q. — How  many  do  you  have  return? 

A. — We  have  the  usual  number  of  returns. 

Q. — Is  there  any  difference  in  that  between  your  prison  and  a 
congregate  prison? 

A. — I  think  not;  the  best  I  could  ever  make  out  in  reclaiming 
the  crime  class  people  is  four  per  cent. 

Q. — Don't  you  consider  that  it  is  worth  more  to  reform  men, 
than  just  to  keep  them  out  of  mischief?  Is  that  your  idea?  You 
simply  keep  them  in  a  cell  without  any  attempt  to  reform  them? 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS.  23 

A. — What  do  you  mean  by  reform?  Does  one  individual  re- 
form another?  The  word  reform  has  gone  into  uselessness  by  the 
frequency  of  its  application.  I  know  of  no  movement  of  reform 
that  has  not  been  pernicious  in  the  end.  The  reformed  politician 
is  the  worst  man  possible,  often  a  vagabond  and  a  scoundrel  that 
could  not  get  a  standing  in  the  general  community. 

TESTIMONY  BEFORE  LEGISLATIVE  COMMITTEE  MAY  13,  1897. 

Q. — How  often  do  the  overseers  report  to  you? 

A. — Whenever  it  is  necessary;  whenever  an  occurrence  takes 
place. 

Q. — Do  you  have  any  daily  or  morning  and  evening  reports? 

A. — I  have  no  fixed  time  for  reports.  A  prison  warden  ought 
to  be  where  he  can  be  got  to,  at  any  time,  for  a  report  from  any  of 
his  officers. 

Q. — Are  you  certain  that  these  men  report  to  you  all  cases  that 
you  should  know  about,  as  to  the  prisoners  being  unruly  or  in  bad 
condition,  mentally  or  otherwise? 

A. — There  is  no  doubt  about  that,  because  if  one  did  not  re- 
port a  matter  the  other  would,  and  they  would  report  the  delin- 
quent for  not  having  done  it. 

Q. — Are  these  overseers  kept  constantly  upon  the  same  cor- 
ridor, or  are  their  places  of  duty  changed? 

A. — Sometimes  I  make  a  change,  not  very  often.  When  they 
get  accustomed  to  their  people  it  is  not  well  to  change  them.  They 
understand  those  to  whom  they  have  become  accustomed  better 
than  others  would.  I  have  made  changes;  I  have  changed  the 
whole  all  around  for  no  other  reason  than  to  make  a  change.  I 
do  not  know  that  any  particular  result  came  from  it. 

Q. — Does  it  require  any  special  aptitude  or  qualification  in  a 
man  to  take  care  of  or  handle  prisoners  as  they  come  in  day  by 
day? 

A. — Undoubtedly  it  does.  A  qualification  that  we  require  is 
that  the  man  must  be  a  mechanic  of  some  sort,  that  he  must  have 
followed  a  mechanical  pursuit  or  some  one  of  the  general  trades 
that  are  in  vogue  in  the  community. 

Q. — For  what  reason  do  you  require  that  he  shall  be  a  me- 
chanic? 

A. — Mechanics  are  a  better  class  of  people  than  those  who  are 


24  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

making  their  living  on  their  wits.  They  have  been  brought  up  to 
habits  of  industry,  and  the  others  have  not. 

Q. — Is  there  ever  any  trouble  between  the  overseers  and  the 
prisoners  in  consequence  of  which  the  overseers  are  compelled  to 
use  force? 

A. — Certainly.  There  is  in  every  prison.  I  do  not  pretend  to 
say  we  do  not  use  force  when  necessary,  and  just  as  much  force  as 
is  necessary,  to  accomplish  the  object,  no  more. 

Q. — To  what  extent  are  they  to  use  force? 

A. — With  any  means  that  may  be  in  their  power  at  the  time. 
There  is  a  club  hanging  up  at  the  head  of  the  block,  if  there  is  any 
disturbance,  and  the  prisoner  makes  a  fight,  he  must  be  subdued. 
There  is  no  other  way  to  do  it.  If  a  man  attacks  you  in  the  street 
you  have  to  do  the  same  thing.  But  no  force  is  used  but  that 
which  is  absolutely  necessary,  and  when  the  object  is  accomplished 
that  force  ceases.  A  scalp  cut  does  not  hurt  anybody.  There 
have  been  four  officers  killed  in  this  institution.  Three  were  killed 
in  my  time,  murdered  outright.  Yes,  there  has  never  been  a  pris- 
oner killed  nor  one  seriously  injured  in  the  whole  history  of  the  in- 
stitution. It  would  be  simply  ridiculous  to  say  that  a  convict 
prison  with  twelve  hundred  people  in  it,  with  the  different  vicious 
elements  that  control  in  that  number  of  people  of  a  certain  class, 
can  be  controlled  by  moral  suasion  alone.  There  is  one  element 
of  discipline  to  be  found  in  every  other  prison  I  ever  knew  or  heard 
tell  of,  which  we  do  not  have  here. 

Q.— What  is  that? 

A. — Powder.     There  is  not  a  firearm  on  this  ten-acre  lot. 

Q. — Then  you  have  no  deadly  weapons? 

A. — We  have  no  deadly  weapons.  No  officer  is  armed  in  any 
way. 

Q. — Have  you  any  cells  with  rings  in  the  floor. 

A. — No,  sir. 

Q. — Is  there  much  trouble  at  night  time,  among  the  prisoners, 
by  their  becoming  unruly? 

A. — No,  sir.  The  general  trouble  is  that  they  disagree  among 
themselves.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  trouble  in  finding  another 
place  to  put  one.  After  he  disagrees  with  another  we  have  to  put 
him  in  some  place  else.  Sometimes  they  fight  and  hurt  one  an- 
other before  we  can  get  them  out  and  separated,  but  that  don't 
occur  very  often. 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  2$ 

Where  extracts  are  made  under  the  caption  "The  Warden's 
Annual  Report"  those  reports  were  the  yearly  official  reports  of  the 
Warden  to  the  Board  of  Inspectors  of  the  Eastern  State  Peniten- 
tiary. 

Duties  of  a  Prison  Warden, 

NATIONAL  PRISON  ASSOCIATION,  TORONTO,  CANADA, 
SEPTEMBER  12,  1887. 

Remarks  by  Mr.  Cassidy  : 

The  warden  is  the  executive  officer  of  the  administration.  The 
ird  of  directors  is  the  administration.  There  must  be  some 
supervising  power  behind  the  warden  to  control  him  as  well  as  to 
invest  him  with  authority.  Of  what  use  would  a  board  of  directors 
be  if  they  should  delegate  all  power  to  the  warden? 

In  the  Eastern  Penitentiary  the  warden  is  elected  every  six 
months,  and  just  as  often  his  conduct  comes  before  the  board 
necessarily  for  special  review.  That  is  a  part  of  our  system. 

No  man  in  any  government  should  be  invested  with  absolute, 
unanswerable  power.  He  must  have  some  controlling  power  be- 
hind him,  or  the  ordinary  human  being  is  likely  to  go  astray  or 
get  too  large.  In  his  position  as  executive  his  authority  must  be 
absolute,  but  there  must  be  a  power  that  controls  him.  To  invest 
an  individual  with  absolute  power,  with  no  one  to  consult,  puts 
that  person  in  a  very  precarious  position.  All  individuals  are  sub- 
ject to  errors  of  judgment,  and  I  would  not  wish  to  be  clothed  with 
any  such  responsibilities. 

The  most  essential  thing  in  prison  government  is  supervision, 
from  the  warden  down  to  the  latest  reception.  Whenever  that  is 
neglected  the  whole  machinery  is  in  danger.  Bolts  and  bars,  high 
walls  and  any  mechanical  appliances  that  may  be  invented,  will  not 
keep  men  in  prison  who  are  adepts  at  getting  out.  There  is  no 
stronger  or  safer  prison  in  the  country  than  the  Eastern  Peniten- 
tiary, so  far  as  its  structure  is  concerned.  Men  can  work  their  way 
out  of  it.  Nothing  keeps  them  in  but  supervision.  All  employes, 
no  matter  how  long  their  service  or  what  engaged  in,  are  better  for 
supervision.  Supervision  is  the  most  essential  thing  in  a  prison. 
No  one  is  capable  of  this  supervision  but  the  one  in  authority,  who 
is  the  warden.  This  authority  is  delegated  to  him  by  the  directors, 


26  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS. 

who  in  turn  supervise  him.  It  is  right  that  they  should.  No  mat- 
ter how  honest  or  capable  he  may  be,  supervision  will  do  him  no 
harm. 

All  the  details  of  the  prison,  from  the  purchase  of  a  box  of 
matches  to  the  largest  contracts,  should  be  under  the  direct  super- 
vision of  the  warden.  He  should  see  every  individual  prisoner  un- 
der his  charge  at  least  once  a  week,  and  should  be  personally  famil- 
iar with  the  treatment  prisoners  receive  from  their  overseers. 
There  is  no  time  when  a  prisoner  desires  to  see  the  warden  that  he 
ought  not  to  go  and  see  him.  He  will  thus  give  himself  apparently 
much  unnecessary  labor,  but  only  by  such  practice  can  he  make 
himself  entirely  familiar  with  every  detail  in  the  institution,  which 
is  so  necessary  that  he  may  justly  administer  the  rules  made  by  the 
board  of  directors.  All  prisons  have  a  ruler.  The  directors  are 
the  governing  power.  Unless  the  warden  is  willing  to  submit  to 
supervision,  how  can  he  expect  others  to  obey  him? 

Individual  Treatment* 

FROM  WARDEN'S  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1882. 

The  opinion  generally  entertained  in  regard  to  the  situation  of 
the  prisoners  in  this  institution  is  that  they  are  kept  in  solitary  con- 
finement and  not  permitted  to  see  any  one  but  their  overseer; 
while,  on  the  contrary,  the  inmates  of  this  prison  have  more  inter- 
course with  proper  persons  from  the  outside  world  than  any  other 
prison  in  this  country. 

They  are  permitted  to  see  and  converse  with  their  family, 
however  numerous  they  may  be,  once  in  three  months,  and  oftener, 
if  necessary,  and  other  persons  whom  the  inspectors  deem  proper 
to  admit;  the  Grand  Jury  of  Philadelphia  County  every  month;  the 
sheriffs  of  different  counties  bringing  prisoners  visit  all  the 
prisoners  from  their  respective  counties  each  time  they  come;  the 
moral  instructor  visits  the  prisoners  continuously;  they  can  have 
the  pastor  of  their  own  choice,  of  any  church,  to  visit  them  at  all 
times;  the  warden  sees  and  converses  with  each  and  every  one  in 
the  prison  at  least  twice  in  each  month;  the  overseers  are  in  con- 
stant intercourse  with  them;  the  overseer  in  this  prison  has  the 
entire  wants  of  the  prisoner  in  charge  to  provide  for,  instruct  in  his 
work,  serve  his  meals,  provide  the  clothing,  all  of  which  brings  him 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS.  27 

in  constant  communication  with  the  prisoners;  the  school  teacher 
and  librarian  are  constantly  teaching  the  illiterate  or  serving  out 
and  taking  in  books,  which  duties  make  these  visits  continuous. 

ANNUAL  REPORT,  1884. 

Under  remarks  concerning  National  Prison  Conference,  held 
in  Chicago,  December,  1883. 

During  the  discussion  of  general  subjects,  when  any  alteration 
in  the  Congregate  system  was  suggested,  it  was  towards  Individ- 
ual treatment;  the  separation  of  the  young  from  old  offenders, 
classification,  or  some  distinctive  treatment  other  than  the  general 
plan.  The  more  I  hear  on  the  subject  of  the  treatment  of  prison- 
ers, the  more  fully  I  am  convinced  that  the  individual  consideration 
of  each  is  most  likely  to  accomplish  the  best  results.  We  are  ail 
"individuals,"  and  distinctive  in  most  of  the  attributes  belonging 
to  us. 

ANNUAL  REPORT,  1887. 

From  remarks  in  Report  of  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Prison 
Association,  held  in  Toronto,  September,  1886. 

Many  of  the  supposed  theoretical  objections  that  have  been 
attributed  to  "the  Individual  Treatment  system"  vanish  on  investiga- 
tion of  the  methods  pursued  in  the  administration  of  it.  It  strikes 
the  intelligent  mind  as  something  valid.  It  is  a  known  system;  no 
guesswork  about  it.  The  individual  you  have;  he  is  something 
you  can  know  and  investigate.  You  can  form  an  opinion  of  him, 
with  some  certainty  of  its  being  correct.  Of  a  congregation  or  a 
mass  of  people  you  can  know  but  little,  with  a  view  to  the  treatment 
of  any  of  them,  morally  or  physically.  The  more  the  system  of 
personal  treatment  for  crime  and  its  cause  is  discussed,  it  becomes 
more  reasonable  and  better  understood. 

FROM  WARDEN'S  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1889. 

The  individual  prisoner,  when  not  surrounded  by  associates, 
whose  ridicule  is  more  powerful  than  his  better  nature,  is  more 
susceptible  to  reformatory  influence  than  in  the  presence  of  those 
who  look  upon  obedience  to  the  demands  of  authority  as  cowardly 
weakness.  Consequently,  any  severe  punishment  by  this  method 
of  treatment  is  unnecessary.  There  are  bad  men  and  men  who  are 
dangerous  when  aroused  to  anger,  in  this  as  there  are  in  all  prisons. 


2&  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

Many  who  have  no  scruples  of  conscience,  and  ever  ready  to  en- 
gage in  any  violation  of  law,  whose  whole  life  has  been  criminal, 
and  will  boast  of  any  outrageous  act  they  may  have  been  engaged 
in,  and  have  no  regard  for  the  life  or  property  of  others,  may  be 
managed  and  directed  generally  by  being  separated  and  treated  as 
one  man. 

Persons  confined  in  prisons  convicted  of  crime  have  been 
taken  out  of  society  because  they  failed  to  comply  with  the  laws 
established  for  its  government,  and  are  placed  in  another  condi- 
tion where  they  must  obey  the  laws  and  rules  laid  down  to  govern 
them. 

The  humanitarian  sentimentalist  and  theoretical  writers  on  the 
subject  of  criminal  treatment  would  have  the  whole  nature  of  indi- 
viduals changed  by  simply  applying  their  sentimental  excuses  for 
the  criminal  acts  that  caused  the  inmates  of  prisons  to  be  where 
they  are,  but  have  no  sympathy  for  the  honest  persons  wronged  by 
the  convict. 

Warden  Nicholson,  of  Detroit,  Mich.,  who  is  one  of  the  ablest 
managers  of  criminals  engaged  in  the  work,  well  says  in  his  annual 
message  of  this  year: 

"There  is  no  secret  how  to  properly  care  for  convicts.  We 
have  reached  that  condition  of  rational  development  where  reason 
must  take  the  place  of  effusive  exhibitions  of  sentiment,  and  prac- 
tical methods  suited  to  the  exigencies  of  the  case  supersede  the 
fanciful  schemes  pushed  forward  as  reform  measures.  The  Gospel 
unadorned  will  dictate  to  an  unwarped  conscience  all  that  is  need- 
ful in  any  case." 

NATIONAL  PRISON  ASSOCIATION,   ANNUAL   MEETING   HELD  AT 

DENVER,  COLORADO,  SEPTEMBER  14-18,  1895, 

WARDEN  CASSIDY  PRESIDING. 

Chairman  Cassidy  said  that  he  felt  that  he  ought  to  say  that 
he  did  not  agree  with  any  one  present  on  any  subject.  I  come 
from  the  old  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania.  It  was  the  first 
Commonwealth  established  on  this  Continent  that  came  without 
any  entanglements  with  it.  It  was  a  grant  from  Charles  II.,  to 
William  Penn  as  personal  property.  It  was  never  a  colonial  prop- 
erty subject  to  the  crown.  William  Penn  was  a  peculiar  man,  and 
belonged  to  a  peculiar  set  of  people.  His  influence  has  existed  up 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  2Q 

to  the  present  time  in  the  State.  The  Eastern  Penitentiary  was 
founded  by  Robert  Vaux,  who  was  a  believer  in  the  faith  and  views 
of  William  Penn,  commonly  known  as  Quaker,  but  better  ex- 
plained as  plain  Friend.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  in  1821,  and  it 
was  opened  in  1829.  Robert  Vaux  was  the  first  inspector  ap- 
pointed. Thus  the  individual  treatment  was  established,  and  from 
that  day  to  this  it  has  been  carried  out.  It  has  .been  modified,  but 
the  idea  of  the  separation  of  the  crime  class  from  others,  and  the 
treatment  of  them  as  individuals  has  been  continued  uninterrupt- 
edly, and  those  who  have  had  the  management  of  it  are  entirely 
satisfied,  after  sixty-seven  years  of  routine  work  in  the  same  line 
of  thought  and  management,  that  it  is  the  only  philosophical  and 
common  sense  treatment  of  people  convicted  of  crime.  There  are 
no  two  people  alike.  No  two  children  in  the  same  family  are 
alike,  and  they  are  not  susceptible  to  the  same  treatment.  It  guar- 
antees that  a  man  shall  go  out  as  good  as  he  came  in,  or  it  is  his 
own  fault.  He  loses  nothing  by  association.  It  is  not  fair  for  the 
State  to  degrade  any  one  if  he  has  committed  crime.  The  pun- 
ishment of  the  law  is  sufficient  for  personal  degradation.  There 
are  men  who  go  to  prison  who,  so  far  as  personal  honesty  and 
truth  are  concerned,  are  as  good  as  any  man — persons  who  have 
committed  crimes  against  persons.  They  should  not  be  degraded 
by  shaving  the  head  and  eating  between  a  five-point  burglar  and 
a  black  man.  It  is  not  fair  treatment.  There  is  no  prison  treat- 
ment that  will  reclaim  a  man  outside  of  individual  treatment. 
That  is  the  conclusion  we  have  come  to  after  an  experience  of 
sixty-seven  years.  The  law  that  made  the  government  of  the 
Penitentiary  in  1829,  was  that  it  should  be  governed  by  five  in- 
spectors, who  elected  a  warden,  a  doctor  and  a  clerk,  subject  to 
good  behavior.  The  law  required  no  interference  with  the  warden 
in  his  employment  of  people,  and  there  never  has  been  any  inter- 
ference up  to  this  time.  There  was  never  a  shadow  of  inclination 
to  connect  it  with  politics  in  any  way.  We  have  no  objections  to 
politicians.  Every  man  ought  to  take  an  interest  in  politics  and 
stand  up  and  be  counted,  but  it  should  not  interfere  with  matters 
like  this. 

Q. — Then  you  have  two  laws  that  are  not  applicable  to  both 
prisons. 

A. — "All  discord"  is  "harmony,  when  right  well  understood." 
Pennsylvania  is  a  peculiar  State,  and  the  Friends  were  a  peculiar 


3O  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS. 

people.  They  were  the  first  to  inaugurate  the  idea  of  the  ameliora- 
tion of  the  condition  of  people  in  prisons.  A  society  for  that  pur- 
pose was  in  existence  before  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  is  contin- 
ued to  the  present  time.  I  do  not  agree  with  all  the  new  theories 
advanced  by  the  modern  scientist  on  these  penal  questions.  They 
get  so  much  confused.  It  is  impracticable  to  carry  out  their  theo- 
ries of  indeterminate  sentences,  paroles,  etc.  Those  were  played 
out  in  Ireland  long  ago.  It  is  truly  an  Irish  method;  liberty  under 
restraint.  It  was  exploded  long  ago.  But  there  is  no  State  that 
has  been  more  interested  in  its  violators  of  law  than  Pennsylvania. 
There  is  no  reason  why  a  man  should  not  be  reclaimed  whether  he 
is  a  first  or  a  third  offender.  While  there  is  life  there  is  hope. 
Our  system  gives  every  man  a  chance.  After  he  has  gone  through 
the  fifth  or  the  tenth  sentence  he  goes  out  and  his  opportunity  for 
getting  employment  if  he  is  industrious,  is  just  the  same  as  any 
laboring  man  in  Philadelphia  who  is  looking  for  work.  He  is  not 
known  to  convicts.  No  one  can  blackmail  him.  It  relieves  that 
difficulty  about  discharged  prisoners. 

Q. — Do  you  use  any  labor-saving  machinery? 

A. — That  belongs  to  another  question.  There  has  not  been 
a  word  said  about  labor-saving  machinery.  You  go  and  fill  your 
prisons  with  the  most  improved  machinery  and  work  against  the 
laboring  man  outside.  The  free  individual  is  entitled  to  some  con- 
sideration. The  State  has  no  right  to  interfere  with  him  in  his 
labor,  nor  to  run  all  sorts  of  improved  machinery  against  him. 
Let  the  man  outside  use  the  machinery,  and  let  the  man  inside  use 
his  hands.  A  man  becomes  a  part  of  the  machine  when  he  works 
with  it.  The  State  has  no  right  to  make  machines  out  of  its 
prisoners. 

Q. — I  understand  that  under  your  constitution  you  have  one 
prison  on  the  solitary  plan,  and  one  where  the  men  are  confined  in 
cells  at  night,  by  day  work  collectively  in  the  shops.  Is  there  a 
separate  law  for  that? 

A. — The  original  law  covered  both,  but  the  Western  people 
were  impregnated  with  the  idea  of  making  money  and  making  it 
fast,  and  the  directors  let  the  warden  have  his  way,  and  so  things 
go  on  as  they  do  in  all  congregate  prisons. 

Q. — Then  you  have  two  penitentiaries,  and  one  law  for  one 
and  no  law  for  the  other? 

A. — Yes,  that  is  true. 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  31 

A  Delegate. — The  only  law  which  causes  the  difference  be- 
tween the  two  prisons,  is  in  three  words  that  the  inspectors  shall 
have  the  privilege  of  assembling  the  convicts  for  "labor,  learning, 
and  worship." 

Q. — Then  they  have  that  privilege  at  Cherry  Hill? 

A. — No,  sir;  and  they  don't  want  it,  and  would  not  ask  for  it. 
They  would  have  to  get  a  law  for  it. 

TESTIMONY  BEFORE  LEGISLATIVE  INVESTIGATING  COMMITTEE,  AT 
THE  PENITENTIARY  MAY  13,  1897. 

Warden  Cassidy  being  interrogated,  in  answer  to  the  several 
questions,  said: 

Q. — What  particular  system  exists  here  in  the  confinement 
and  treatment  of  prisoners? 

A. — The  individual  system.  The  aim  and  object  of  that  sys- 
tem is  to  have  the  prisoner  treated  individually.  Each  case  is 
studied,  its  peculiarities  noted,  and  the  prisoner  treated  as  his  case 
warrants.  We  do  not  propose  to  treat  them  all  alike.  There  are 
no  two  people  alike.  If  you  undertake  to  treat  these  people  all 
alike,  in  a  mass,  you  may  as  well  give  every  one  who  comes  in 
here  a  primer  or  a  copy  of  Shakespeare's  works  to  read. 

Q. — Are  there  cases  here  of  what  is  commonly  known  as  soli- 
tary confinement,  where  a  prisoner  is  kept  entirely  by  himself? 

A. — No,  sir;  there  never  was  such  a  thing  here. 

Q. — What  is  the  least  number  you  put  in  a  cell? 

A. — One.  That  is  not  solitary  confinement.  An  occupant  of 
a  cell  has  communication  with  the  people  who  come  to  the  prison, 
except  the  convicts. 

Q. — Are  you  ever  compelled  to  put  them  in  irons,  or  to  place 
them  in  dark  cells  or  dungeons? 

A. — We  have  no  mechanical  appliances  for  punishment  of  any 
sort. 

Q. — You  have  none  of  any  kind? 

A. — We  have  none  of  any  kind;  nothing  but  what  you  see. 
We  have  no  dark  cells. 

Q. — Have  you  any  padded  cells  in  which  you  put  people? 

A. — No.  Sometimes  we  remove  the  furniture  from  a  cell; 
leave  it  entirely  bare,  and  leave  the  man  in  it.  That  is  one  method 
of  punishment. 


32  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

Q. — Have  you  any  dungeons? 

A. — We  have  neither  dungeons  nor  padded  cells.  In  other 
prisons  they  have  them  to  show  visitors,  but  we  have  none  here. 

Q. — Do  you  make  any  distinction,  as  to  the  confinement  of  a 
prisoner,  when  he  is  reported  to  you  as  insane  or  feigning  insan- 
ity? 

A.— Yes. 

Q. — What  distinction  do  you  make  in  the  treatment  of  such 
prisoners? 

A. — Sometimes  we  take  them  out  all  day  and  have  them 
worked  outside,  in  the  yard. 

Q.— All  day? 

A. — -All  day.  Until  we  determine  what  it  is.  It  is  a  difficult 
matter  to  determine  a  case  of  insanity  in  a  prisoner.  I  doubt  the 
ability  of  any  one  to  do  so  on  sight.  It  requires  time,  study,  and 
thought  about  it. 

Q. — You  regard  reformation  as  one  of  the  purposes  of  im- 
prisonment, do  you? 

A. — Yes,  the  basis  of  all  imprisonment  should  be  reformation 
of  the  criminal  and  protection  to  society. 

Q. — You  think,  then,  that  the  prisoners  here  are  encouraged 
to  feel  that  there  is  something  in  life  left  for  them,  do  you? 

A. — They  are  encouraged  to  feel  that  they  are  men;  that  any 
one  of  them  is  a  man  as  I  am,  and  they  are  treated  that  way;  that 
is,  we  meet  them  fair  and  square  as  men. 

Prison  Construction. 

NATIONAL  PRISON  ASSOCIATION,   ANNUAL   MEETING   HELD  AT 
ATLANTA,  GA.,  NOVEMBER,  1886. 

Upon  the  topic  of  Prison  Construction,  Mr.  Cassidy  spoke  as 
follows : 

Prison  construction,  like  everything  else,  to  be  done  well, 
should  be  begun  at  the  beginning.  You  cannot  do  anything  right 
unless  you  begin  right.  Beautiful  sites  and  picturesque  landscapes 
are  of  no  use  for  a  prison.  When  you  look  for  a  site,  you  must 
look  for  the  soil  first.  Get  soil  that  is  adapted  to  take  in  water  and 
drainage.  It  requires  loose  gravel  or  sandy  soil.  Clay  won't  do. 
When  you  commence  your  structure,  get  ground  enough.  In  a 


;.  .  ' 


~iijj— ^  <W— 


GROUND  PLAN. 


GROUND  PLAN  OF  ROOM. 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  33 

great  country  like  this,  which  is  all  out  of  doors,  with  nothing  else 
but  ground,  there  is  no  reason  why  a  prison  should  not  have  plenty 
of  it.  Prisons  should  not  be  more  than  one  story  high.  By  get- 
ting up  in  the  air  you  do  not  get  to  heaven  any  sooner.  When 
you  have  but  one  story,  you  have  everything  under  your  hand. 
Almshouses,  hospitals,  and  all  buildings  where  people  are  confined, 
ought  to  be  but  one  story.  In  case  of  accident  by  fire  or  riot,  open 
your  doors,  and  you  are  all  out  of  doors.  There  is  no  difference 
in  the  cost,  only  for  the  ground.  One  roof  will  cover  four  or  five 
stories,  that  is  true;  but  it  costs  more  than  a  roof,  where  you  have 
extra  corridors,  and  gangways,  and  stairways,  and  extra  supervi- 
sion. Some  of  the  gentlemen  say  that  they  ought  to  be  all  separate. 
That  I  agree  with.  It  is  a  remarkable  thing  for  a  prison  associa- 
tion to  agree,  in  any  way,  in  the  minutest  particular.  The  best 
authority  on  hospital  construction  is  800  cubic  feet  to  the  individ- 
ual. Very  few  prison  cells  in  this  country  have  more  than  half 
that.  Such  cells  have  not  room  enough  for  a  white  man  or  a 
negro  to  live  in.  They  should  be  made  plain  and  simple,  without 
any  ornamentation,  only  what  they  choose  to  put  up  themselves. 
They  should  be  about  eight  feet  by  sixteen  feet  by  twelve  feet  high. 
In  that  way  you  get  your  ventilation,  your  air  space.  Fresh  air 
comes  from  outside.  Pure  air  can't  be  manufactured  by  a  steam 
engine  and  pumped  out  of  a  cellar.  Have  plenty  of  space  for  ven- 
tilation, and  the  air  will  come  into  the  cell.  The  only  way  you  can 
get  it  is  to  leave  room  for  it  to  come  in,  and  leave  room  for  the 
light  to  come  in.  The  light  doesn't  cost  any  more  than  other  parts 
of  the  outside  structure.  The  openings  cost  just  about  as  much 
as  the  roof  or  stone  work.  Most  of  the  prisons  in  the  United 
States  are  built  on  the  old  plan,  three  or  four  tiers  high;  and  in 
order  to  prevent  ventilation  and  use  their  best  endeavors  to  shut 
out  light,  they  build  another  house  outside,  and  it  is  of  no  man- 
ner of  use  whatever,  and  can  have  no  purpose  but  to  shut  out  light 
and  ventilation.  They  are  assumed  to  be  put  around  for  strength, 
to  keep  the  person  in.  I  don't  know  whether  it  has  struck  many  of 
you  or  not,  but  there  is  no  prison  built  sufficiently  strong  to  keep 
the  kind  of  people  in  that  know  how  to  get  out.  Nothing  will 
keep  them  in  but  supervision.  There  is  no  business,  I  do  not  care 
what  the  business  is,  or  where  it  is,  and  how  it  is  managed,  that 
does  not  depend  entirely  upon  the  supervision.  All  our  banking 


34  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

institutions  that  send  their  delegates  to  Canada  every  week  fail 
from  the  want  of  supervision.  Any  prison  will  fail  for  the  want  of 
supervision.  Of  all  the  difficulties  about  a  prison,  the  leading  one 
is  the  lack  of  supervision.  The  prison  I  have  been  connected  with 
is  not  an  experiment.  It  has  been  in  operation  sixty  years.  We 
do  not  assume  that  it  is  the  best  possible,  but  we  do  say  that  it  is 
the  best  we  have.  There  is  room  for  improvement  everywhere. 
The  supervision  of  the  individual  is  the  important  part  of  the  treat- 
ment of  any  place.  The  workshop  business  is  factory  business. 
In  that  an  individual  goes  into  the  manufacturing  business, — the 
State  furnishes  the  building  and  the  contractor  the  machinery.  It 
is  a  mere  matter  of  partnership.  You  take  a  young  man  who  has 
been  connected  in  business  with  one  of  our  banking  institutions. 
He  falls.  Temptation  is  too  strong  for  him  and  he  commits  for- 
gery. His  people  are  good  people.  He  had  been  raised  well,  and 
probably  would  have  continued  honest  but  for  this  peculiar  tempta- 
tion. He  is  convicted  and  sent  to  the  State's  prison.  He  is  placed 
in  the  labor  gang,  and  put  to  work  alongside  of  some  brutal  negro 
who  has  been  convicted  of  rape  on  a  white  woman.  A  professional 
reconvict  burglar  may  be  his  companion  on  the  other  side,  and  the 
State  is  responsible  for  this  association  and  whatever  it  may  lead 
to.  All  people  have  an  individuality  peculiar  to  themselves. 
There  are  no  two  people  alike.  We  do  not  think  alike.  It  is  not 
natural  that  we  should.  To  treat  prisoners  properly  and  with  the 
best  results  to  themselves  and  society,  these  personalities  must  be 
taken  into  account,  and  they  should  be  treated  individually.  As- 
sociation in  crime  is  the  seed  of  crime.  When  each  individual  is 
treated  separately,  and  communicates  and  associates  with  none  of 
the  crime-class,  he  goes  out  of  prison  as  good  as  he  came  in. 
Whatever  good  resolutions  he  may  have  formed  he  has  an  oppor- 
tunity to  put  in  practice.  He  is  not  known  to  his  associates,  for 
he  has  had  none,  and  there  is  no  danger  of  other  prisoners  who 
have  been  confined  at  the  same  time  in  the  same  institution  inter- 
fering with  him  in  any  way  on  his  release.  The  individual  treat- 
ment keeps  each  isolated  and  absolutely  unknown  to  any  other, 
even  his  nearest  neighbor,  as  completely  as  though  they  were  resi- 
dents of  opposite  sides  of  the  globe. 

Good  people  say  that  police  interfere  too   much   with   dis- 
charged prisoners.     There  is  not  much  in  that  charge.     They  have 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  35 

more  to  fear  from  their  own  class.  We  know  there  is  a  crime- 
class,  and  that  it  is  increasing  in  numbers.  The  associations  made 
in  prisons  do  not  tend  to  diminish  it. 

Work  in  prison  is  one  of  the  most  important  matters  con- 
nected with  the  administration  of  the  institution — any  kind  of 
work  without  machinery — labor.  Labor  is  not  punishment,  al- 
though it  is  denominated  as  such  in  the  legal  sentences.  The 
severest  punishment  is  to  deprive  prisoners  of  labor. 

The  natural  soil  for  a  prison  should  be  of  a  sandy  or  gravelly 
bottom,  so  as  to  absorb  all  drainage  that  occurs.  Where  you  have 
clay,  all  the  drainage  will  be  held  there  as  in  a  sponge,  and  after  a 
time  something  will  have  to  be  done  to  get  that  away  or  relieve  it 
in  some  way.  On  a  rocky  soil,  where  the  water  runs  over  the  top 
of  a  rock  or  through  a  rock,  you  are  not  sure  to  get  sufficient 
drainage  from  the  surface  down.  The  first  thing  in  building  a 
prison  is  to  build  the  sewerage.  Look  for  a  sewer  first,  and  of 
sufficient  size,  say  three  and  a  half  feet  at  least,  with  such  descent 
as  the  nature  of  the  surroundings  will  permit,  you  can  always  have 
sufficient  drainage  for  the  buildings.  The  size  of  the  prison  is 
not  an  important  question.  It  should  be  sufficiently  large.  The 
large  building  does  not  cost  much  more  in  proportion  than  a  small 
one,  and  if  you  have  a  sufficient  amount  of  room  to  begin  with, 
you  will  not  be  troubled.  Now  when  prisons  are  built,  at  the  time 
they  are  built  the  ground  amounts  to  nothing  in  the  way  of  cost, 
and  no  building,  either  mad  houses,  insane  asylums,  or  prisons, 
where  there  are  a  number  of  people  confined  and  have  to  be  taken 
care  of,  should  be  more  than  one  story  high.  There  is  no  reason 
why  it  should  be  more.  The  cost  of  gangways  and  stories  would 
more  than  counterbalance  the  cost  of  the  roof  for  separate  build- 
ings. If  you  have  a  low  roof  and  any  trouble  occurs,  your  men 
are  out  of  doors  at  once.  The  building  should  be  about  the  size 
of  an  ordinary  seashore  hotel.  A  cell  16  x  8  x  15  feet  makes  a  very 
comfortable  room;  that  is  about  the  size  of  our  cells. 

Each  man  works  in  his  cell,  but  it  doesn't  follow  that  the  cell 
should  not  be  that  size  if  he  worked  in  a  workshop.  I  am  not 
speaking  particularly  in  reference  to  the  separate  system,  or  its 
advantages,  but  the  advantages  of  prison  structure.  It  is  clear 
that  the  prison  structure  of  the  country  is  very  defective.  The  use 
of  buckets  I  do  not  know  anything  about,  only  what  I  have  seen 


36  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

and  heard.  I  have  heard  nothing  good  of  it  and  seen  nothing  of 
it.  If  a  prison  is  properly  constructed,  it  can  be  drained  just  as 
well  as  any  other  building.  For  the  outer  wall,  our  friend  from 
Missouri  says,  brick  would  be  as  good  as  stone.  Perhaps  it  would, 
if  the  cost  was  even,  for  the  factories,  but  the  cell  building  should 
be  of  stone.  A  brick  is  apt  to  be  taken  out  here  and  there,  and  if 
the  wall  is  of  rubble  stone,  or  any  good  stone,  it  is  not  so  con- 
venient to  make  holes.  Sometimes  a  prisoner  will  make  holes 
large  enough  to  get  into  his  neighbor's  cell.  The  furnishing  of  a 
cell  should  be  as  little  as  possible.  The  best  thing  I  know  of  for 
bedding  is  a  buckboard  and  two  light  trestles  and  the  common 
tick  of  straw  that  can  be  turned  out  and  the  straw  renewed  at  any 
time.  I  make  it  a  rule  to  give  a  prisoner  new  cell  furniture,  knife, 
fork,  plate,  and  spoon,  etc.  We  furnish  every  prisoner  a  new  bed, 
and  when  the  prisoner  comes  out  we  destroy  the  straw,  and  it  can 
be  renewed  as  often  as  necessary.  Some  people  require  more 
attention  that  way  than  others.  Water  closets  in  a  cell  are  abso- 
lutely necessary,  and  can  be  arranged  if  the  building  is  properly 
constructed  in  the  beginning, — light,  gas,  water,  and  heat.  We 
heat  the  cells  by  steam.  A  radiator  pipe  runs  around  continuously 
through  the  cells,  and  as  much  of  that  water  as  is  not  so  hot  that 
it  cannot  be  used  by  the  injector  is  returned  to  the  boiler.  We 
put  it  in  the  pipes  with  an  injector.  You  can  take  the  same  water 
back  to  the  boiler  if  your  pressure  is  equal.  An  injector  is  the 
handiest  method,  and  is  always  sure.  For  keeping  a  prison  clean, 
there  is  no  way  to  do  that  only  to  do  it,  and  to  do  it  all  the  time. 
There  should  be  no  particular  time  for  doing  anything;  do  it  when 
it  needs  to  be  done.  Clean  it  once  a  day  or  once  a  week,  but  have 
it  clean  all  the  time.  The  ventilation  of  cells,  when  they  are  buiit 
in  this  manner,  is  entirely  satisfactory,  and  you  cannot  get  it  in 
any  other  way.  There  are  .two  windows  in  the  roof,  and  at  the 
back  of  the  cells;  about  eight  or  ten  inches  from  the  floor  is  a  pipe 
about  two  inches  in  diameter;  that  is  sufficient  to  create  a  current, 
and  as  soon  as  the  window  is  open  the  bad  air  goes  out.  This  is 
a  very  important  subject,  gentlemen,  as  the  old  prisons  are  all 
defective.  There  should  not  be  more  than  600  people  as  a  maxi- 
mum in  any  one  prison. 

Under  the  discussion  of  the  question  of  construction  of  prisons 
and  the  number  to  be  provided  for  in  each  prison,  Mr.  Wines 


\\'.\R  I  >I-;N    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  37 

asked  Mr.  Cassidy  whether  it  was  as  easy  to  know  personally  1000 
men  as  it  is  600;  whether  the  reformation  of  the  prisoners  is  the 
object  of  the  prison,  and  whether  their  reformation  is  a  possibility? 

In  response  to  these  questions  Mr.  Cassidy  said: 

There  are  good  reasons  why  the  maximum  should  be  600. 
Five  hundred  ought  to  be  at  most  what  should  be  in  any  one 
prison,  but  under  no  conditions  should  they  admit  more  than  600. 
Six  hundred  people  of  the  kind  that  make  up  a  prison  population 
is  quite  enough  in  one  place,  and  is  quite  as  much  as  one  person 
can  attend  to,  and  attend  to  all  the  requirements,  and  wants,  and 
needs,  and  a  great  many  things  that  are  not  needed  besides  to  keep 
his  attention  employed  all  the  time.  Six  hundred  is  as  much  as 
he  can  look  after.  Cost  should  not  enter  into  the  question  of  prison- 
keeping.  The  prison  should  be  conducted  as  economically  as  pos- 
sible, but  the  mere  question  of  cost,  a  dollar  or  two  here  and  there 
at  the  sacrifice  of  everything  else,  should  not  be  taken  into  account. 
Some  of  the  men  require  treatment  they  could  not  possibly  get 
where  they  are  massed  together,  and  the  warden  of  a  prison  should 
see  and  know  every  prisoner  he  has.  If  you  put  1400  or  1000 
prisoners  together,  it  is  a  little  cheaper  for  light  and  fuel,  and  that 
is  about  all  the  difference  in  cost. 

Q. — The  difference  is  still  greater  in  officers? 

Not  so  much,  because  in  most  of  the  prisons  of  the  United 
States  there  are  no  officers;  there  are  guards.  They  are  not  re- 
quired to  have  any  intelligence  whatever,  only  to  stand  guard. 
The  moral  character  of  the  prisoners  should  be  cared  for,  and 
there  is  only  one  way  to  do  it,  and  that  is  by  one  man.  The 
warden  ought  .to  be  held  responsible  by  the  people  who  put  him  in 
the  position.  There  should  be  nothing  between  him  and  his  busi- 
ness; we  cannot  separate  responsibility  from  authority.  Ff  you 
insist  on  a  man  being  responsible  for  anything,  you  must  give  him 
authority  to  attend  to  it  himself;  then  he  cannot  say,  "My  deputy 
did  this,"  and  "This  enforces  the  contract  made  with  Tom  Jones," 
or  somebody  else,  etc.  Where  a  warden  is  made  responsible  for 
le  entire  administration  of  the  prison,  600  is  just  as  much  as  he 
in  attend  to.  Gentlemen,  I  am  a  Democrat,  but  I  tell  you  there 
is  no  government  that  was  ever  made  as  good  as  a  one-man  gov- 
-nmont,  provided  you  have  got  the  man. 


38  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

Prison  Construction  and  Furnishing* 

•i 

REMARKS  MADE  UPON  THIS  SUBJECT  AT  THE  ANNUAL  MEETING 

OF  THE  NATIONAL  PRISON  ASSOCIATION  IN  FEBRUARY, 
1884,  BY  MR.  CASSIDY. 

I  think  it  is  clear,  from  what  I  have  heard  from  the  gentlemen 
from  almost  every  section  of  the  country,  that  the  entire  prison 
structure  of  the  country  is  defective,  some  of  it  terribly  bad,  and 
this  subject  is  the  most  important  one  that  has  been  selected  for 
prison  people,  because  the  structure  of  the  prison  is,  as  the  primary 
school,  the  beginning.  One  part  of  the  subject  is  not  stated  here 
on  the  programme, — the  sites  where  the  prisons  should  be  built. 
The  nature  and  character  of  the  ground  is  one  of  the  most  import- 
ant things  in  the  consideration  of  the  prison.  The  beginning  is 
the  most  important  part  of  anything,  gentlemen ;  if  we  do  not  begin 
right,  you  always  have  trouble  to  go  back  to  some  starting-point 
that  is  near  right;  but  as  long  as  you  begin  right,  you  have  no 
trouble  in  rearing  your  structure.  Any  one  that  is  acquainted  at 
all  with  the  structure  of  buildings  will  know  that  the  beginning  is 
the  most  important  part  of  it,  for  alterations  cause  very  much  in- 
convenience. My  early  education  was  that  of  a  carpenter  and 
builder. 

Graded  Prison  System* 

Is  IT  DESIRABLE?    SHOULD  CLASSIFICATION  DEPEND  UPON  AGE 
OR  UPON  CRIMINAL  RECORD? 

Upon  this  topic,  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  National  Prison 
Association,  held  in  New  York,  February,  1884,  Mr.  Cassidy  said: 

Mr.  Chairman:  The  question  now  seems  to  be  between  grad- 
ing and  herding.  Which  is  the  best?  It  is  pretty  generally  ad- 
mitted, I  think,  by  all  the  gentlemen,  that  the  prison  structure  is 
very  defective;  that  is  the  beginning,  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  it 
has  been  pretty  generally  accepted  that  the  prison  systems  of  the 
country  are  very  defective.  Hence  they  are  reaching  out  for 
something  that  will  take  the  place  of  herding.  It  is  proposed  to 
introduce  grading.  If  mankind  were  possessed  of  the  knowledge 
of  the  thought  and  actions  of  other  individuals,  then,  possibly, 
grading  might  be  effective.  It  is  difficult  to  get  individuals  of  the 


NINTH  BLOCK.— 254  ft.  long,  10  ft.  wide,  16  ft.  high. 

50  Rooms,  18  x  8  ft.,  12  ft.  high. 


THIRD  BLOCK.— 368  ft.  long,  10  ft.  wide,  16  ft.  high. 

20  Rooms,  12  x  7  ft.  6  in.,  14  ft.  high.  12  Rooms,  25  x  8  ft.,  14  ft.  high. 

8  Rooms,  20  x  17  ft.,  14  ft.  high. 


be    j= 
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JD    ^ 

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I    " 

wj       w" 

8   I 
3  S 

pq    <g 

w 

H 


SEVENTH  BLOCK  (two  stories). — 365  ft.  long,  10  ft.  wide,  38  ft.  high. 
136  Rooms,  16  x  7  ft.  6  in.,  ri  ft.  high. 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  39 

same  character  in  any  community  so  that  you  could  grade  them 
together  and  make  them  harmonious,  and  work  in  concert  with 
any  form  of  labor  that  you  might  choose  to  give  them.  Whenever 
you  admit  that  classification  is  a  necessity  in  the  treatment  of 
criminal  classes,  or  in  the  treatment  of  people  who  occupy  prisons, 
then  the  only  classification  is  individualization.  There  is  no. mis- 
take about  that.  You  may  get  a  young  man  who  will  come  in 
and  make  you  think  at  first  sight,  or  from  the  acquaintance  of  a 
month  or  two,  that  he  will  be  a  very  desirable  man  to  put  among 
the  best  people  you  have,  and  maybe  he  is  the  very  worst  one  in 
your  prison  so  far  as  corruption  of  his  associates  is  concerned. 
There  is  no  classification  can  be  made  that  would  be  as  sure  to 
reach  the  results  desired  as  the  individualization  of  each  prisoner. 
It  is  true  that  the  architectural  structure  of  your  prisons  is  such 
that  that  cannot  be  effected.  In  many  of  the  States  new  prisons 
are  required,  and  the  prison  structure  should  be  located  with  a  view 
of  individualizing  the  people  that  they  have.  There  is  a  crime- 
class  in  the  community,  who  associate  and  rotate,  who  are  con- 
tinually going  from  one  prison  to  another,  or  from  the  prison  they 
leave  to  return.  They  follow  their  regular  vocation.  As  far  as 
prison  reformatory  influences  and  discipline  are  concerned,  the 
effect  on  those  persons  is  not  very  great;  there  are  not  many  of 
them  that  actually  reform.  Statistics  are  not  entirely  reliable.  I 
suppose  the  best  statistics  on  prisons  in  the  country  are  at  the 
Eastern  Penitentiary.  To  know  how  many  would  return  to  prison 
is  a  very  difficult  matter.  From  a  general  knowledge  of  that  kind 
of  people,  and  from  a  long  acquaintance  with  them,  I  think  about 
four  per  cent,  reform,  and  not  more  than  that  of  the  crime-class 
proper.  Of  those  who  come  to  prison  upon  first  conviction  of  first 
offences,  we  keep  a  strict  line  of  statistics,  and  we  know  that 
seventy-five  per  cent,  get  lost  in  the  community,  and  do  not  get 
back  into  prison  at  all.  If  they  were  graded  or  herded,  the  proba- 
bility is  that  a  large  number  of  the  prisoners  would  be  crime-class 
people.  Gradation  is  one  of  the  primary  objects  of  the  State  in  fur- 
nishing reformatories,  and  all  prisons  should  be  reformatories.  The 
first  idea  of  a  prison  arrangement  should  be  to  secure  the  rescue  of 
as  many  people  as  possible  from  the  criminal  class.  The  object  of 
sending  the  individual  to  prison  is  to  protect  society  and  to  punish 
the  criminal,  in  order  to  deter  others  from  committing  the  same 
character  of  crime;  and  all  the  State  expects  from  the  prison  man- 
agement is  such  security  to  society  as  that  can  give. 


4O  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

The  number  of  young  people  who  come  into  our  prisons  now, 
I  suppose,  is  as  great  as  at  any  previous  time  in  the  history  of  the 
country,  principally  owing  to  the  fact  that  there  are  no  trades  to 
learn.  They  have  not  the  opportunity  to  learn  trades,  it  is  said, 
and  there  has  been  no  effort  in  that  direction  by  philanthropists. 
There  is  plenty  of  school  education,  public  schools,  and  education 
of  all  kinds,  except  education  to  labor.  There  is  no  classification 
that  can  be  made  in  the  prison  population  on  either  of  the  two 
terms  mentioned  here, — age  or  criminal  record;  it  is  impossible. 
The  only  classification  that  can  be  made  is  from  a  knowledge  of  the 
individual  character  of  the  man.  The  different  means  you  may 
possess,  or  different  means  you  may  bring  to  bear  to  give  you  a 
knowledge  of  this  individual's  character,  both  before  and  during 
his  time  in  prison,  is  the  only  basis  upon  which  you  could  possibly 
make  a  classification.  I  am  very  much  pleased  to  know  that  the 
system  of  grading  or  classification  is  being  discussed,  gentlemen, 
throughout  the  country,  as  it  is  becoming  more  popular  and  tend- 
ing in  the  right  direction,  which  is  to  separate  the  criminal  classes 
from  those  who  get  to  prison  that  have  not  begun  crime.  It  is  not 
fair  in  any  government  that  takes  the  liberty  from  the  individual, 
which  it  has  the  right  to  do  for  the  prevention  of  crime,  to  make 
his  condition  worse  than  it  was  before  it  took  that  liberty  away. 
There  are  a  large  number  of  people  tfiat  commit  offences  against 
persons  where  property  is  no  part  of  the  offence.  Is  it  proper  to 
associate  one  of  those  people  with  a  Five  Points  rough,  and  work 
them  together?  You  must  separate  them  from  their  surround- 
ings, and  give  them  an  opportunity  to  think  and  dwell  upon  their 
condition,  and  what  they  will  be  when  they  return  from  where  they 
are.  Some  of  those  people  have  families  who  come  to  the  prison; 
if  the  men  are  individualized,  they  see  no  one  but  the  prisoner 
whom  they  come  to  see.  They  are  relieved  from  the  impression 
that  prison  has  on  that  kind  of  people  generally.  If  they  are  tidy 
in  their  habits  and  require  specialties,  with  an  individual  treatment 
it  is  no  trouble  to  allow  them.  On  the  herding  plan  you  have  got 
to  treat  every  man  alike;  you  cannot  allow  this  man  to  have 
privileges  and  deprive  another  one  of  the  same.  Where  you  have 
them  under  individual  treatment  and  separate,  you  can  use  your 
own  judgment  as  far  as  their  wants  may  be  accommodated.  So 
far  as  classification  is  concerned,  there  is  no  treatment  so  good  as 
the  individualization  of  the  prisoner. 

Q. — Is  it  possible  to  unite  the  two  systems? 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS.  4! 

I  think  not,  as  a  rule.  In  some  cases,  association  might  be 
proper;  but,  as  a  rule,  that  is  exploded  in  English  prisons.  They 
begin  with  separation,  and  then  destroy  all  the  effects  of  separa- 
tion as  accomplished  by  herding  them  with  others.  Where  you 
have  your  own  judgment,  you  can  make  your  selections.  Associa- 
tion will  work  well  for  a  time,  but  to  make  it  a  general  rule  that 
every  one  shall  be  associated  with  others  for  a  certain  length  of 
time  destroys  the  whole. 


Education. 

FROM  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1887. 

Education  that  means  teaching  by  a  schoolmaster,  with 
printed  books,  is  very  good  as  far  as  it  goes,  but  the  few  hours  in 
school  do  but  little  in  preparing  the  individual  with  knowledge  to 
earn  an  honest  livelihood.  The  circumstances  and  surrounding, 
associations,  natural  disposition,  and  family  characteristics,  are  a 
more  lasting  education,  and  are  continually  at  work  with  their  in- 
fluences, good  or  bad.  Education,  in  the  sense  in  which  it  is 
understood,  is  at  best  only  secondary  as  an  agent  to  prevent  crime.- 
By  a  knowledge  of  reading,  such  books  may  be  read  as  will  direct 
the  thoughts  of  the  reader  in  a  direction  that  will  tend  to  form  a 
moral  understanding  of  duties  of  life.  But  there  is  so  much 
written  that  has  wide  circulation,  with  the  endorsement  of  those 
who  are  considered  authority  on  moral  literature,  which  if  read  by 
weak  or  viciously  disposed  minds,  will  do  much  to  counteract  any 
purely  moral  teaching  they  may  have  had.  Many  of  these  books 
are  very  entertaining,  and  generally  read  by  those  that  do  read. 
The  authors  are  educated,  and  make  use  of  all  the  ingenuity  they 
possess  to  impress  the  reader  of  the  soundness  of  their  reasonings 
and  sentiments,  putting  into  the  individual  characters  they  create 
and  draw  their  own  reasonings,  of  the  line  of  circumstances  in 
which  these  characters  are  supposed  to  have  been  educated.  Most 
of  these  books  are  but  sentimental  apologies  for  crimes  of  all 
grades,  from  the  smallest  venial  offence  against  morals  to  the 
highest  crimes  known  against  society.  Such  books  are  to  be 
found  in  most  libraries.  Victor  Hugo's  Les  Miserables,  Lord 
Lytton's  Paul  Clifford,  Ainsworth's  Jack  Sheppard,  Marryatt's 
Pirates,  and  Dickens's  Oliver  Twist,  are  but  some  of  the  standards 


42  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

from  which  the  present  sentimentalist  takes  his  ideas  of  crime-life 
and  criminals.  Much  is  said  by  those  conducting  congregate 
prisons  of  the  importance  of  the  hour  they  devote  to  night  school 
for  the  education  of  their  prisoners,  but  ignore  the  education  of 
association  by  which  the  prisoners  are  surrounded  daily. 

FROM  WARDEN'S  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1892. 

In  this  age  of  progress,  as  it  is  termed  by  many  intelligent 
persons  in  the  community,  notwithstanding  all  the  efforts  of  educa- 
tional institutions,  the  criminal  class  increases  more  largely  in  pro- 
portion than  the  increase  of  population,  as  shown  by  the  last 
general  census. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  education  and  learning,  being  more 
generally  diffused  throughout  the  community,  have  produced  re- 
markable results  in  the  line  of  progress;  new  methods  of  doing 
many  things  have  caused  many  of  the  old  pursuits  to  be  aban- 
doned, and  more  expeditious  and  enlightened  thought  applied  in 
producing  results. 

One  line  of  industry,  or  those  who  followed  it  but  a  few  years 
ago,  is  not  heard  of  any  more  in  the  populous  sections  of  the 
country.  The  old  bank  burglar's  occupation  is  gone;  more 
enlightened  ways  and  means  have  been  found  that  produce  better 
and  safer  results.  There  is  not  now  a  bank  burglar  in  this  Peni- 
tentiary, while  there  are  numerous  bank  wreckers. 


The  Relation  of  Intemperance  to  Crime* 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  National  Prison  Association, 
held  in  New  York,  December  20,  1883,  Professor  Francis  Way- 
land  being  in  the  chair,  Mr.  Cassidy  was  asked  to  repeat  some 
statements  previously  made  upon  this  topic. 

His  remarks  were  as  follows: 

Governor  St.  John,  of  Kansas,  who  is  a  temperance  crusader, 
had  written  to  all  prison  wardens,  I  presume,  in  the  country,  to 
know  what  influence  intemperance  had  on  crime,  and  myself 
among  the  number.  He  afterwards  delivered  a  lecture  in  Phila- 
delphia, in  which  he  said  that  he  had  done  so,  and  all  the  prison 
wardens  in  the  country  had  expressed  the  opinion  that  intemper- 
ance was  the  cause  of  most  of  the  crime,  and  the  cause  of  most  of 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  43 

the  inmates  coming  to  their  prisons,  except  the  warden  of  the 
Eastern  Penitentiary,  who  said  that  intemperance  was  not  a  cause 
of  crime. 

Now,  intemperance  is  not  a  cause  of  crime.  The  crime-class 
people  are  not  intemperate.  As  for  houses  of  correction  and  other 
institutions  where  vagrants  and  misdemeanants  are  confined,  it  is 
largely  a  cause  of  their  coming  into  those  institutions;  but  the 
crime-class  proper  do  not  get  drunk.  Our  statistics  show  that  the 
large  majority  of  that  class  of  people  are  abstainers.  I  mean  total 
abstainers. 

Then  the  crime-class,  the  professional  burglar  of  the  higher 
grade,  the  forger,  the  die  sinker,  the  engraver,  the  embezzler,  the 
people  who  make  their  living  by  their  wits  and  cheating  other 
people,  cannot  afford  to  be  drunkards,  for  under  the  influence  of 
liquor  they  could  not  carry  on  their  business.  The  lower  grade  of 
these,  perhaps,  to  some  extent  are  drunkards,  but  the  higher  grade 
of  burglars  and  bank  operatives  cannot  afford  to  be.  They  must 
have  a  clear  head  when  they  are  about  their  work.  They  can't 
afford  to  go  with  people  who  take  liquor,  because  they  talk  too 
much  before  or  after  the  act.  The  forger  cannot  afford  to  drink. 
The  bank-note  engraver,  when  he  is  engraving  a  note,  is  sober  all 
the  time.  The  large  part  of  the  crime-class  people  cannot  attribute 
their  difficulty  to  drinking,  and  do  not  attempt  to  do  it.  They  are 
either  moderate  drinkers  or  abstainers.  In  a  barroom,  perhaps, 
where  there  is  a  drinking  spree  going  on,  some  one  gets  killed. 
It  is  not  a  murder,  for  there  is  no  intent,  perhaps,  in  the  first  place 
for  anybody  to  be  killed.  Those  people  would  not  have  been 
convicted  of  anything  if  it  had  not  been  for  getting  on  this  spree; 
but  the  larger  portion  of  people  who  go  to  prisons  do  not  attribute 
it  at  all  to  drinking,  and  it  is  no  more  a  positive  cause  of  crime 
than  is  education.  In  the  criminal — the  professional  criminal- 
there  is  an  intent  to  commit  crime  not  dependent  upon  liquor  one 
way  or  the  other. 

(At  this  point  Mr.  Cassidy  was  subjected  to  a  series  of  ques- 
tions, which  with  the  answers  were  as  follows :) 

Q. — Do  you  keep  a  record  of  their  habits  when  prisoners 
come  in? 

A.— Yes. 

Q. — Do  your  statistics  show  that  men  report  themselves  as 
total  abstainers  or  moderate  drinkers? 


44  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

A. — Mostly  abstainers,  far  more  abstainers  than  intemperate; 
and  from  a  knowledge  of  the  people  we  take  it  as  correct.  As  a 
general  thing,  the  question  is  not  asked  with  a  view  to  pry  into 
their  habits  or  to  create  any  prejudice  against  them  for  their  habits. 
I  would  ask  a  man  in  this  way :  "How  is  it  with  your  habits?  Do 
you  go  on  sprees  or  take  a  drink  occasionally?"  It  is  quite  a  com- 
mon question  to  ask.  They  say:  "I  never  was  drunk  in  my  life; 
take  a  drink  once  in  a  while;"  or  "I  don't  drink  at  all."  Here  and 
there  one  will  say:  "When  I  do  drink  I  go  on  a  spree."  Those 
are  exceptional. 

Q. — What  per  cent,  of  your  inmates  are  those  whose  offences 
are  only  against  property? 

A. — About  200  out  of  looo  are  those  whose  crimes  are  against 
persons,  where  property  has  been  no  part  of  the  offence. 

Q. — Then  the  majority  of  your  men  commit  offences  against 
property  ? 

A. — Yes,  and  that  is  the  class  to  whom  I  refer  as  abstainers. 

Treatment  of  Criminals. 

FROM  WARDEN'S  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1891. 

By  the  methods  of  treatment  applied  to  the  individual,  force  is 
seldom  required  to  secure  obedience  to  authority  where  but  one 
person  is  resisting  without  the  encouragement  of  surrounding 
lookers-on  as  sympathizers,  as  must  necessarily  be  the  case  where 
a  large  number  with  the  same  feeling  of  resistance  to  any  authority, 
law,  or  rule  are  congregated.  Persons  who  have  been  taken  out  of 
the  community  for  violation  of  the  laws  governing  society  for  its 
protection,  and  placed  under  a  different  government,  the  laws  of 
which  must  be  complied  with,  will  naturally  evade  and  sometimes 
resist.  As  they  must  remain  in  their  present  condition  for  the 
time  fixed  for  them  by  the  sentence,  they  must  be  controlled. 

Many  of  the  theorists  who  write  and  talk  on  the  subject  of 
the  treatment  of  criminals  have  had  little  or  no  daily  intercourse 
with  the  crime-class,  in  or  out  of  prison,  but  generally  conceive  a 
plan  or  method  of  treatment  that  may  be  very  plausible,  and,  as 
they  think,  susceptible  of  being  carried  out  practically.  But  when 
it  comes  to  be  applied,  it  will  fail  in  most  cases.  With  some  few 
inmates  of  a  prison  it  might  succeed,  but  either  general  or  par- 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  45 

ticular  application  would  fail  to  produce  the  results  desired;  just 
as  architects  often  make  plans  of  structures  and  produce  elaborate 
drawings  of  the  same  which  look  complete  on  paper,  but  when  the 
practical  mechanic  is  called  upon  to  adapt  it  and  carry  its  details 
into  execution,  finds  that  it  cannot  be  done  without  so  much  altera- 
tion that  sometimes  changes  wholly  or  in  part  the  original  concep- 
tion of  the  designer. 

Just  the  same  results  will  follow  the  attempt  with  one  method 
of  treatment  applied  to  persons  afflicted  with  any  mental,  physical, 
or  criminal  disease;  for  crime  is  a  disease,  either  inherited  or  pro- 
duced by  contagion  either  of  environment  or  association.  The 
best  remedy  against  the  spread  of  any  contagious  disease  is  to 
obliterate  the  cause.  A  general  treatment  for  all  afflicted  with 
various  diseases,  produced  by  different  causes,  would  be  as  reason- 
able as  to  treat  all  alike  for  the  crime  disease.  There  is  special 
treatment  for  all  other  known  diseases, — why  not  for  crime? 
Inherited  metal  and  physical  diseases  are  treated  separately,  the 
disease  held  in  check  or  palliated  and  sometimes  cured,  particularly 
if  taken  in  its  incipiency.  There  is  but  remote  hope  for  the  cure 
of  the  chronic  crime-class  under  any  method  of  treatment.  Their 
separation  while  in  prison  from  others  not  so  afflicted  prevents  the 
transmission  of  the  disease.  Seaports  are  protected  by  quarantine 
laws  and  regulations,  separation,  and  isolation  insisted  upon. 
Why  not  in  prisons? 

To  lessen  crime  in  the  community,  the  most  effectual  method 
is  to  eradicate  the  cause.  Parental  neglect  in  the  care  and  training 
of  children  is  the  most  prolific  cause  of  contagious  crime,  more 
particularly  by  the  mothers  when  children  are  of  tender  age  (under 
ten  years),  when  the  mind  is  new  and  impressions  are  easily  made 
by  what  they  see  and  hear.  It  is  not  generally  observed  how  much 
is  lost  by  this  neglect  or  indifference  of  mothers. 

WARDEN'S  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1894. 

Much  has  been  said  and  written  on  the  subject  of  the  treat- 
ment of  persons  convicted  of  crime.  Suggestions  mostly  come 
from  theorists,  whose  judgment  leads  them  to  the  alleviation  of  the 
criminal,  and  palliation  of  the  crime  committed.  Undue  severity 
of  sentence  or  great  irregularity  in  the  terms  awarded  by  the  courts 
is  often  alleged.  Where  individuals  are  tried  and  convicted  of 
crime,  and  are  treated  as  individuals,  equal  penalties,  or  the  same 


46  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

punishment  for  the  same  crime  on  all  convicted,  would  not  be  just 
to  the  individuals  so  sentenced.  The  law  states  a  maximum  and 
minimum  term  for  all  crimes.  The  judge  endeavors  to  adjust  the 
punishment  to  the  individual,  not  the  crime.  The  court  has  the 
discretion  between  the  maximum  and  minimum  term,  and  from 
the  surroundings  of  the  case,  as  far  as  it  is  within  the  power  of 
human  judgment,  and  from  the  light  he  has,  awards  the  penalty 
justly.  All  that  has  been  done  by  legislation  at  the  instance  of 
experimentalists  in  the  treatment  of  individuals  for  crime  fail  in 
results.  The  commutation  law  is  a  compromise  with  the  prisoner, 
in  which  he  gets  all  the  benefit.  The  parole,  or  ticket-of-leave, 
and  indeterminate  sentence  are  for  the  criminal,  who  mostly 
secures  the  benefit. 


Prison  Statistics. 

ANNUAL  MEETING  OF  THE  NATIONAL  PRISON  CONGRESS,  HELD 
AT  DETROIT,  MICH.,  1885. 

Upon  the  question  of  Prison  Statistics  before  the  Congress 
for  discussion,  Mr.  Cassidy  made  the  following  remarks : 

I  suppose  that  the  statistics  of  the  Eastern  Penitentiary  at 
Philadelphia  are  more  elaborate  than  those  of  any  other  penal 
institution  in  this  country.  Great  care  has  always  been  taken  to 
have  all  the  details  in  regard  to  the  prisoner  as  an  individual;  the 
cause  of  his  crime,  his  environments,  his  early  education,  his 
parentage,  all  are  carefully  sought  out  and  put  in  a  table.  Each 
individual  is  credited  with  whatever  causes  may  have  influenced 
him  to  his  present  condition.  That  line  of  statistics  has  been  kept 
up  for  twenty  years.  These  statistics  are  sought  after  by  penolo- 
gists  all  over  Europe  and  our  own  country  for  information  on  the 
subject  of  crime  cause. 

The  important  matter  connected  with  this  subject  seems  to  be 
simply  to  get  the  actual  number  of  people  who  are  convicted  of 
crime.  It  is  correct  as  far  as  it  goes  in  that  direction.  But  it  is 
also  important  to  know  the  causes  of  crime  in  different  localities 
throughout  the  country.  Disposition,  habits  of  the  people  in 
various  sections  of  the  country  are  quite  different,  and  causes 
which  produce  crime  in  some  parts  of  Michigan  would  not,  per- 
haps, have  the  same  effect  in  Pennsylvania  or  New  York.  It  is 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  47 

of  as  much  importance  to  know  why  crime  is  committed,  as  to 
know  that  it  is  committed  without  knowing  any  reason  for  it. 
There  is  no  effect  without  a  cause,  and  there  is  a  cause  for  every 
crime.  The  only  way  we  can  prevent  crime  is  to  seek  out  the 
cause  and  remove  it.  Climate  and  habit  have  as  much  to  do  with 
causes  of  crime  as  many  other  influences.  In  some  sections  of  the 
country  the  greatest  cause  is  attributed  to  drink  and  saloons,  and 
that  may  be  true  so  far  as  those  sections  of  the  country  are  con- 
cerned. In  other  sections  where  there  are  no  saloons,  and  pro- 
hibitory laws  are  in  existence,  this  cause  of  crime  does  not  exist; 
nevertheless  there  is,  perhaps,  as  much  crime  in  such  communities 
as  there  is  where  licenses  for  the  sale  of  liquors  are  granted. 

It  would  be  an  easy  matter  for  every  institution  having  the 
charge  of  the  crime-class  people  to  keep  a  line  of  statistical  tables, 
showing  as  nearly  as  possible  the  crime  cause.  The  reform  of  the 
individual  after  he  has  become  an  habitual  criminal  is  a  far  more 
difficult  matter  than  it  is  to  prevent  him  from  being  such  at  the 
beginning  or  after  his  first  misstep.  Heredity  is  one  of  the  most 
prolific  of  all  crime  causes.  The  sins  of  the  parents  are  visited  on 
the  child.  It  is  right  and  proper  it  should  be  so.  It  is  divine  law, 
and  it  is  human  experience  that  such  is  the  case.  The  responsi- 
bility is  not  with  the  people  who  have  reformatories.  There  are 
too  many  reformatory  institutions  in  the  country  to-day;  more 
than  can  do  good.  There  is  responsibility  somewhere  for  the 
cause  of  all  crime.  This  belongs  largely  with  the  parents  of  chil- 
dren who  are  cast  off  and  placed  in  the  various  kinds  of  charitable 
institutions  throughout  the  country. 

There  is  one  responsibility  for  crime,  and  for  a  great  deal  of 
the  crime  committed  in  this  country.  I  have  no  desire  to  offend 
the  large  number  of  ladies  present,  but  the  truth  compels  me  lo 
say  that  the  mothers  are  to  a  large  extent  responsible  for  the  num- 
ber of  inmates  of  reformatory  institutions.  Their  injudicious  care, 
kind  treatment,  apology  for  every  infraction  of  law  and  rule  of 
home  government,  they  are  responsible  for.  They  frequently 
apologize  for  guilty  children  when  the  father  desires  to  hold  them 
in  check ;  tell  falsehoods  to  the  father  to  protect  the  child ;  stand  by 
them  in  every  wrong  until  they  get  entirely  beyond  parental  con- 
trol, and  then  shift  the  responsibility  upon  some  institution  that 
has  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  origin  of  the  difficulty.  Many 
minors  are  arrested  on  the  public  streets  for  infractions  of  law  and 


48  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

taken  before  a  magistrate.  The  parent  or  guardian  of  such  minors 
should  also  be  compelled  to  answer  to  the  law  for  dereliction  of 
duty,  and  upon  proof  of  offense  be  made  to  suffer  as  a  partner  in 
the  crime  committed.  If  they  are  thus  made  to  feel  practically 
their  responsibility  to  society  for  the  proper  training  of  their  chil- 
dren, they  will  discharge  that  duty  better,  and  as  a  result  one  large 
avenue  to  crime  will  be  closed.  The  community  at  large  ought 
not  to  suffer  through  increased  taxes  and  depredations  for  crimes 
for  which  parents  alone  are  responsible. 


Reform  of  Prisoners* 

FROM  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1886. 

There  can  be  no  account  that  will  approach  correctness  of  the 
number  of  discharged  prisoners  that  are  living  honestly  by  their 
own  industry.  Migration  is  so  convenient  and  the  country  so 
large  that  any  figures  made  on  this  subject  are  mere  conjecture. 
Only  those  who  reside  or  have  located  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
the  prison  from  whence  discharged  can  be  accounted  for.  Letters 
from  distant  points  by  former  convicts  are  not  reliable,  but  are 
mostly  misleading,  and  in  some  cases  are  altogether  falsehoods. 
We  know  of  many  in  this  city  who  have  been  inmates  of  this  Peni- 
tentiary that  are  leading  honest  lives,  who  are  unknown  to  any  of 
the  crime-class,  who  do  not  require  any  police  surveillance  to  keep 
them  honest.  They  attribute  their  success  to  having  acquired 
habits  of  industry  in  the  Eastern  Penitentiary. 

WARDEN'S  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1890. 

The  strength  of  the  structure  will  not  deter  many  of  the  in- 
mates of  this  and  all  other  prisons;  constant  supervision  is  the 
barrier  that  desperate  and  ingenious  men  cannot  overcome.  Iron 
bars,  locks,  and  stone  walls  are  of  little  use  if  time  and  opportunity 
are  permitted.  Some  kind  people  think  that  all  the  inmates  of  a 
prison  will  remain  quietly,  because  they  should  be  penitent  and 
accept  the  situation  with  meekness  and  humility,  and  acknowledge 
the  justice  of  their  conviction.  Some  of  the  inmates  do,  but  not 
many.  The  majority  of  prisoners  do  not  regret  the  commission  of 
the  crime  for  which  they  were  convicted;  in  many  cases  they  use 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  49 

all  the  powers  of  reasoning  they  possess  to  justify  it.  Their 
grievances  are  against  the  means  that  places  them  in  their  present 
position.  The  law  and  the  administration  of  it  is  considered  bv 
them  to  be  persecution.  Some  while  in  prison  profess  to  be  peni- 
tent, but  few  are  sincere.  The  crime-class  will  generally  manage 
to  get  all  that  can  be  got  in,  or  out  of,  prison  by  the  easiest 
methods. 

Some  of  the  best  talent  and  ablest  statesmen  have  given  their 
time  and  money  in  devising  means  for  reclaiming  criminals. 
Many  methods  of  treatment  for  people  of  this  class  are  being  tried, 
and  will  be  continually,  for  the  problem  and  the  successful  method 
for  reclaiming  the  crime-class  has  yet  to  be  solved. 

Notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  done  in  this  direction,  ac- 
cording to  the  census  of  the  United  States  just  completed,  the 
crime-class  has  increased  much  more  in  the  past  ten  years,  in 
proportion,  than  the  population. 

Prison  officers  are  subject  to  much  risk  of  personal  injury 
from  assaults  of  prisoners,  and  not  infrequently  their  lives  are  in 
peril  while  in  discharge  of  the  duties  required  of  them.  The 
natural  disposition  of  many  of  the  inmates  is  a  disregard  of  the 
right  of  property  or  the  life  of  any  one  who  stands  in  the  way  of 
accomplishing  any  unlawful  purpose  they  have  in  view.  The  cares 
and  anxieties  of  a  prison  officer  are  little  known  to  the  outside 
community.  He  must  accept  quietly  his  position  unless  he  is  sure 
his  life  is  in  peril.  He  is  held  to  answer  for  any  injury  that  a 
prisoner  may  have  received,  no  matter  how  violent  or  outrageous 
the  prisoner  acted,  attempting  even  to  kill  the  officer.  The 
prisoners  in  all  cases  have  the  sympathy  of  the  sentimental, 
humanitarian  theorists,  who  pose  before  the  community  for 
philanthropists. 

Religious  Instruction* 

AT  THE  ANNUAL  CONGRESS  OF  THE  NATIONAL  PRISON  ASSOCIA- 
TION, HELD  AT  TORONTO,  CANADA,  SEPTEMBER  10-15,  1887. 

The  subject  of  Religious  Instruction  being  under  discussion, 
Mr.  Cassidy,  having  been  especially  called  upon,  made  the  follow- 
ing remarks: 

The  discussion  seems  to  have  dropped  into  a  musical  groove. 


5O  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS. 

In  the  Eastern  Penitentiary  any  prisoner  may  play  on  any  instru- 
ment that  suits  his  fancy,  or  which  he  is  capable  of  learning,  from 
a  jewsharp  to  a  piano.  The  time  allotted  for  music  is  from  supper 
time,  or  six  o'clock,  until  nine.  Some  of  the  attempts  made  are 
not  very  fine  music.  A  few  play  the  violin  very  well ;  some  learn 
yery  rapidly,  while  others  will  not  or  cannot  learn  at  all. 

Each  prisoner  provides  his  own  instrument.  There  is  no 
music  in  some  people,  no  matter  what  the  character  of  the  training 
or  their  effort  at  learning.  Those  who  do  not  choose  to  learn  can 
listen  to  others. 

Religious  instruction  in  the  prison  is  entirely  by  personal 
visitation  of  prisoners  in  their  cells.  There  is  general  service  on 
Sunday  morning  from  nine  to  ten  o'clock,  which  is  the  ordinary 
regular  service.  The  structure  of  the  prison  is  such  that  eight 
different  services  can  be  conducted  at  the  same  time  without  inter- 
ference. The  several  wings  radiate  from  a  common  center  like  the 
spokes  of  a  wheel  from  its  hub,  with  a  separate  door  for  each 
corridor.  When  these  are  closed  each  corridor  becomes  as  dis- 
tinct as  though  it  were  a  separate  building.  We  have  preaching 
and  singing  in  each  wing  for  an  hour.  The  services  are  conducted 
by  Protestant  clergymen  and  laymen  under  the  direction  of  the 
Prison  Chaplain.  There  is  no  general  Catholic  service  and  no 
conveniences  for  any. 

We  have  no  chapel.  The  congregation  of  the  habitual 
criminals  with  the  first  convicts  is  pernicious.  The  evil  effects  of 
that  cannot  be  remedied  by  any  methods  that  chaplains  can 
employ.  A  Catholic  priest,  assigned  by  the  archbishop  for  that 
purpose,  visits  the  prison  regularly.  More  can  be  done  in  the  way 
of  religious  teaching  by  quietly  talking  with  the  prisoner  alone  in 
his  cell  than  by  the  ordinary  preaching.  There  have  been  three 
chaplains  connected  with  the  institution  in  its  history  of  sixty 
years.  Chaplains  live  long  in  our  section  of  the  country,  and  none 
resign.  They  are  appointed  by  the  board  of  inspectors.  One  visit 
to  each  prisoner  every  month  is  required  of  the  chaplain.  Where 
specially  needed  he  goes  frequently,  visiting  from  cell  to  cell.  He 
also  has  charge  of  the  library,  which  contains  from  8000  to  9000 
volumes.  In  the  discharge  of  his  duties  he  cannot  be  interfered 
with  by  any  other  officer  in  the  institution,  but  is  entirely  inde- 
pendent even  of  the  warden.  He  is  appointed  by  the  board,  and 
under  no  constraint,  except  in  case  of  misconduct  on  his  part. 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  51 

There  is  no  other  officer  connected  with  any  prison  who.  can 
be  of  so  much  service  to  the  administration  as  the  chaplain.  In 
our  prison  he  is  relieved  from  any  duties  other  than  those  pertain- 
ing to  his  office  of  a  religious  teacher.  All  letters  pass  through 
the  warden's  hands.  The  moral  instructor  is  relieved  from  this 
drudgery,  which  occupies  more  time  than  he  can  afford  to  give  to 
it.  It  is  mostly  humdrum  labor,  and  another  man  can  do  it  as  well 
as  the  chaplain. 

We  have  no  schools.  A  teacher  gives  instruction  to  the 
illiterate  prisoners  in  their  cells.  They  are  taught  to  read,  write, 
and  cipher.  After  that  the  prisoner  is  afforded  opportunities  to 
develop  this  primary  education  at  his  pleasure.  Secular  instruc- 
tion is  an  important  part  of  prison  discipline,  but  not  so  important 
as  is  believed  by  most  people  who  are  managing  prisons. 

Superior  education  is  of  no  advantage  to  an  honest  com- 
munity. Education  of  the  hand  is  of  far  more  benefit  than  the 
education  of  the  brain  or  the  knowledge  of  books.  Habits  of 
industry  keep  people  out  of  prison;  book  learning  never  did. 
Crimes  of  education — crimes  that  are  committed  and  can  be  com-/ 
mitted  only  by  educated  persons — contribute  a  large  portion  of  thel 
criminal  population  of  this  country,  in  and  out  of  prison.  There 
is  no  part  of  the  community  so  happy  as  the  working  people  who 
earn  their  day's  wages  with  their  hands.  The  people  who  make 
up  the  population  of  our  prisons  do  not  belong  to  that  class  of  the 
community.  I  think  every  warden  present  will  agree  with  me 
that  industry  is  the  best  means,  in  any  society,  to  maintain  a 
standard  of  virtue.  Education  is  considered  by  parents  in  this 
country  as  the  most  essential  thing  to  give  to  their  children.  It  is 
a  mistake. 

One  of  the  chaplains  well  remarked  that  the  education  of  the 
young  is  neglected  by  Sunday  School  teachers  and  by  the  church. 
It  does  not  take  charge  of  them  early  enough  to  prevent  their  get- 
ting into  prison.  That  is  right  so  far  as  it  goes.  There  is  no  way 
to  do  anything  like  beginning  at  the  beginning.  If  you  want  to 
go  to  the  beginning  of  children  you  must  go  to  the  parents.  If 
parents  will  see  that  their  children  are  properly  taken  care  of  early, 
they  will  not  be  apt  to  get  astray.  This  is  particularly  true  of 
mothers.  They  can  hold  children  with  a  tighter  grip  than  the 
male  parent.  After  they  wander  away  from  a  mother's  care  they 
may  fall  into  any  mischief  that  comes  their  way. 


52  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

The  education  of  prisoners  is  not  as  important  as  one  matter 
that  is  entirely  lost  sight  of,— that  is,  the  education  of  the  people 
who  are  employed  to  teach  them.  The  education  of  prison  officers 
is  of  far  more  importance  than  the  education  of  prisoners.  Not 
every  man  who  is  taken  out  of  his  line  of  life  and  society  and 
appointed  to  a  prison  office  will  make  an  efficient  prison  officer. 
I  do  not  care  how  much  book  education  he  has,  or  how  able  a  man 
he  may  be  considered  by  his  friends  who  solicit  his  appointment. 
He  may,  nevertheless,  not  have  a  single  qualification  necessary  for 
a  competent  prison  officer.  Prison  officers  should  have  a  special 
training  to  that  end.  In  every  prison  there  should  be  a  school  for 
prison  officers,  in  which  they  are  regularly  instructed  and  drilled 
in  the  important  parts  of  their  duty,  so  that  its  discharge  becomes 
a  matter  of  habit  as  well  as  of  memory,  just  as  the  soldier  springs 
to  his  place  instantly  on  alarm,  from  the  habit  of  constant  drill, 
almost  before  his  mind  can  be  brought  to  act.  Such  a  school 
should  be  conducted  by  one  in  authority — either  the  warden  or  the 
president  of  the  board  of  managers.  In  the  Eastern  Penitentiary 
the  warden  has  the  appointment  of  the  sub-officers,  and  he  in- 
structs them  in  their  duties.  They  meet  every  evening  of  the 
week  for  a  few  moments  at  the  close  of  the  day's  service,  and  be- 
fore they  go  home.  There  they  receive  in  a  body  whatever  in- 
structions may  be  necessary  for  the  proper  discharge  of  their 
duties.  In  case  of  a  breach  of  duty,  no  opportunity  is  given  an 
officer  to  say,  "I  was  not  told  to  do  that,"  or  "I  did  not  hear  that." 

This  instruction  should  cover  every  detail,  however  small,  of 
their  conduct  and  relations  with  the  prisoners,  and  also  with  the 
public.  No  act  or  word,  or  even  thought,  is  insignificant.  No 
man  can  go  into  a  prison  and  take  up  this  work  offhand  and  do  it 
well.  Every  man  within  the  walls  of  a  prison  is  different  in  every 
way  from  his  neighbor.  There  are  no  two  people  alike;  no  two 
children  of  the  same  parents  are  exactly  alike.  Judicious  parents 
do  not  treat  their  children  in  all  respects  alike.  They  recognize 
differences  of  moods  and  temperament,  and  the  same  discretion 
must  be  exercised  by  officers  towards  prisoners. 

Much  is  said  and  much  time  and  money  are  expended  in  the 
care  of  children  by  all  communities.  Much  is  done  for  their  wel- 
fare and  benefit.  Education  is  very  well  so  far  as  rudiments  go, 
but  beyond  that  time  and  money  are  wasted.  Industry  is  the 
only  way  to  keep  people  out  of  mischief. 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  53 

For  two  years  I  kept  statistics  of  prisoners  who  were  news- 
boys and  bootblacks, — a  class  commonly  supposed  to  be  on  a 
plane  of  life  that  will  inevitably  lead  into  mischief,  and  they  are 
generally  considered  vicious  boys.  It  is  not  so.  During  that  time 
only  three  came  into  our  prison  who  had  ever  been  either  a  boot- 
black or  newsboy.  That  is  an  industry;  it  is  an  honest  calling;  it 
is  a  business.  They  follow  that  business,  they  trade  with  one  an- 
other, buy  newspapers  and  rustle  around  for  their  crust  of  bread, 
and  they  get  it  honestly.  When  they  get  too  large  for  this  busi- 
ness they  drift  into  some  other  calling,  usually  upwards  and  gen- 
erally honest.  They  have  begun  by  making  an  honest  living  by 
an  honest  industry,  and  any  change  is  only  in  form,  and  not  of 
habit. 

Out  of  a  population  of  1055  now  in  the  Eastern  Penitentiary, 
only  fourteen  were  bred  to  mechanical  pursuits.  People  who  are 
bred  to  industry  do  not  easily  fall  into  a  life  of  crime.  Good 
mechanics  may  become  dissipated  by  associations,  lose  their  situa- 
tions, and  get  into  county  jails  as  vagrants,  but  they  are  seldom 
convicted  of  the  graver  crimes,  and  very  rarely  become  habitual 
criminals. 

Industrial  education  is  the  best  means  of  keeping  people 
honest.  The  labor  unions  that  have  been  transplanted  from  the 
old  country  to  this  have  well-nigh  ruined  the  industries  of  America, 
so  far  as  individual  mechanics  are  concerned.  They  have  almost 
entirely  shut  out  the  American  boy  from  the  opportunity  to  acquire 
a  trade.  He  is  not  permitted  to  enter  any  establishment  where  a 
mechanical  industry  is  taught.  Nearly  every  manufacturing 
establishment  is  under  some  trades  union,  and  the  number  of 
apprentices  that  the  employer  shall  have  is  fixed,  and  he  can  take 
no  more.  A  crusade  against  that  tyranny  will  be  the  best  method 
of  reducing  the  number  of  criminals. 

There  are  many  people  who  go  to  prison  who  are  not  crime- 
class  people.  They  do  not  return.  Crime-class  people  always 
return  to  some  penal  institution  sooner  or  later.  Some  institutions 
claim  a  large  percentage  of  prisoners  reformed.  I  do  not  like  the 
word  reformation.  It  has  been  applied  to  everything  that  is 
vicious  and  pernicious.  Yet  I  do  not  know  any  other  word  that 
exactly  expresses  what  we  mean  by  it.  Crime-class  people  do  not 
very  often  reform.  The  best  conclusion  at  which  I  have  been  able 
to  arrive  is  that  about  four  per  cent,  of  the  professional  crime-class 


54  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

voluntarily  abandon  the  business.  Of  first  offenders  (who  are  not 
crime-class  people)  fully  seventy-five  per  cent,  we  can  never  trace 
into  this  or  any  other  penal  institution.  We  try  to  keep  minute 
and  correct  statistics.  They  are  often  misleading,  and  require 
great  care  and  attention  to  get  them  correct.  It  is  very  easy  to 
guess  at  percentages.  It  is  very  difficult  with  the  variety  of 
methods  that  prevail  in  this  country  to  get  them  accurate,  and  then 
alone  are  they  of  value. 

There  is  no  way  to  reach  people  for  their  benefit  better  than 
the  old  Catholic  way  of  the  confessional.  In  that  way  you  reach 
the  individual.  Under  the  system  that  prevails  in  our  institution, 
the  chaplain,  no  matter  what  denomination  he  belongs  to,  makes 
regular  personal  visitations  to  the  entire  population.  If  anything 
at  all  can  be  done  with  a  man,  it  can  be  done  in  that  way. 


Motive  of  Imprisonment. 

FROM  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1881. 

To  make  the  institution  a  paying  one  has  never  been  the 
primary  object  of  the  individual  treatment  of  the  prisoners,  be- 
lieving that  efforts  devoted  to  the  reformation  of  the  individual, 
and  his  moral  and  intellectual  elevation,  will  benefit  society  at 
large  more  than  any  pecuniary  gains  that  it  is  possible  to  derive 
from  labor  in  prisons. 


Increase  of  Crime* 

FROM  WARDEN'S  REPORT,  1889. 

It  is  said  that  crime  is  increasing  at  a  greater  ratio  than  the 
population.  Such  would  seem  to  be  the  case  from  the  increase  of 
prison  populations,  but  there  is  yearly  an  increase  of  laws  to  which 
penalties  are  connected.  Yearly  such  laws  are  being  enacted  by 
State  Legislatures  and  Congress,  which,  in  some  measure,  explains 
the  increase  in  the  number  of  convicts  throughout  the  country. 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS.  55 

Indeterminate  Sentence* 

FROM  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1888. 

Under  the  head  of  remarks  concerning  the  last  meeting  of  the 
National  Prison  Association,  held  in  Boston,  July,  1887: 

Most  of  the  experts  on  theoretical  criminal  treatment  and 
some  of  the  practical  prison  officers  were  caught  in  the  new  con- 
tagion now  prevailing,  known  as  indeterminate  sentence  and 
parole,  that  has  been  transmitted  from  England,  where  it  has  been 
tried  and  failed  of  accomplishing  the  results  desired.  The  most 
successful  test  of  "ticket-of-leave  system"  in  this  country  is  being 
directed  by  Z.  R.  Brockway,  who  is  managing  the  Elmira 
Reformatory,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  at  Elmira.  He  is  doing 
more  with  it  than  has  ever  been  done  elsewhere.  But  he  is  an 
exceptional  man  and  has  given  his  life  to  this  subject,  and  can 
make  anything  go  that  will  go. 

There  is  so  much  plausible  theory  about  the  method  that  is 
alluring,  as  are  all  things  that  are  indefinite.  The  injustice  that 
must  be  done  in  the  application  of  the  scheme,  the  dangerous  pro- 
ceeding of  making  the  decisions  of  properly  constituted  courts 
indefinite,  should  be  well  considered  in  all  its  features  before  it  is 
adopted. 

The  paper  read  by  Superintendent  Brockway,  chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Discipline,  was  prepared  by  him.  It  was  an 
indorsement  of  the  indeterminate  sentence  and  parole  system, 
which  Superintendent  Pillsbury,  of  New  York,  did  not  fully  in- 
dorse, but  signed  the  report,  stating  in  substance  that  in  his 
opinion  it  was  not  practicable  for  State  prisons.  Mr.  Pillsbury  not 
being  present,  and  I  being  the  third  member  of  the  Committee  of 
Three  on  Discipline,  could  not  agree  to  the  chairman's  report,  and 
gave  the  following  reasons: 

I  have  no  doubt  you  will  think  it  is  great  presumption  in  me 
to  dissent  from  anything  that  the  pioneer  of  the  indeterminate  sen- 
tence and  of  the  new  method  of  reformation  may  present.  There 
are  many  things  in  this  report  that  I  heartily  agree  with.  Much 
of  it  is  good.  But  I  cannot  agree  with  it  all;  and  there  was  not 
sufficient  time  given  to  admit  of  my  making  suggestions  which 
would  not  so  materially  have  altered  the  report  that  it  would  have 
failed  to  convey  what  Mr.  Brockway  intended;  therefore  I  did  not 
sign  it. 


56  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 


The  indeterminate  sentence  and  the  parole  I  do  not  approve. 
I  have^no  doubt  you  will  think  me  egotistical  in  setting  up  my 
opinion  against  the  prevailing  tide  now  setting  in  that  direction. 
But  life  is  too  short  for  any  one  individual  to  have  three  or  five 
or  ten  years  taken  out  of  it.  Human  judgment  is  the  only  lever 
that  can  be  used  in  determining  whether  a  person's  time  shall  be 
lengthened  or  shortened.  Human  judgment  is  very  fallible. 
Courts,  with  juries  and  with  able  counsel,  are  unable  to  determine 
the  exact  amount  of  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  person  tried.  Many 
times  the  offense  does  not  warrant  the  sentence.  What  Macaulay 
says  is  true,  that  there  are  several  undefined  lines  that  verge  so 
close  upon  each  other  that  we  cannot  determine  the  lines  which 
separate  courage  from  rashness,  prudence  from  cowardice,  frugal- 
ity from  prodigality.  So  there  are  lines  that  no  jury  has  ever 
been  able  to  determine,  the  line  of  violence  necessary  to  justify  a 
killing,  and  the  line  where  mercy  to  offenders  ceases  to  be  mercy, 
and  becomes  a  pernicious  weakness.  I  would  not  act  as  a  prison 
warden  where  I  had  to  determine  the  time  that  a  man  should  serve 
in  prison.  Boards  of  pardon,  which  are  constituted  of  gentlemen 
versed  in  the  law,  who  have  facilities  for  procuring  all  the  evidence 
in  the  case,  and  weighing  all  the  pleas  that  may  be  offered,  in  very 
many  cases  err  in  their  judgment  in  granting  pardon,  not  from 
want  of  a  disposition  to  do  what  is  exactly  right,  but  from  the 
fallacy  of  human  judgment.  We  cannot  foresee  and  determine 
what  is  to  become  of  a  prisoner  after  his  term  expires.  "Once  a 
criminal  always  a  criminal"  is  not  true.  There  are  many  men 
serving  time  in  prisons  who  recover  after  three,  four,  and  five  falls. 
I  would  not  like  to  go  to  the  grave  with  the  consciousness  that  I 
had  deprived  any  individual  of  any  portion  of  his  life.  That  part 
of  the  report  I  disagree  with,  and  these  are  my  reasons. 

Mr.  Brockway  has  launched  a  very  elegant  ship,  well-built, 
secure  in  every  way.  (Mr.  Brockway,  interrupting:  "You  had 
better  embark.")  No  doubt  he  will  make  a  successful  voyage; 
but  the  most  important  thing  he  has  entirely  left  out.  He  has  not 
provided  a  master,  nor  a  crew  that  understands  sailing  the  ship. 
The  most  important  thing  for  the  people  who  are  interested  in  the 
reclamation  of  prisoners  is  to  provide  some  means  for  the  training 
of  prison  officers,  to  render  them  efficient  in  the  discharge  of  their 
duty.  It  is  all  very  well  to  go  over  the  old  ground  of  discipline 
for  prisoners,  and  "go-as-you-please"  for  officers;  but  it  is  just  as 


WARDEN    CASSTDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS.  57 

absurd  to  place  an  inexperienced  man  who  has  had  no  training  at 
all,  to  control  these  men  in  prison,  as  it  is  to  place  a  shoemaker  or 
tailor  on  board  of  a  government  vessel  carrying  a  thousand  or 
fifteen  hundred  men.  Railroads  are  controlled  and  managed  by 
people  who  begin  at  the  beginning.  A  railroad  man  begins  as  a 
yardman;  then  he  may  become  a  brakeman,  and  perhaps,  after  a 
time,  an  engineer.  But  go  out  into  the  street,  take  a  man  who  has 
never  been  in  a  prison  before  and  place  him  in  control.  That  is 
not  right. 

I  have  no  doubt  Mr.  Brockway  will  agree  with  me  in  some  of 
my  notions.  (Mr.  Brockway,  interrupting:  "Lots  of  them.") 
As  I  declined  to  sign  this  report,  I  deem  it  proper  to  give  some 
explanation  for  doing  so.  I  hope  that  you  will  forgive  me  for  not 
advocating  the  prevailing  epidemic  of  indeterminate  sentence  and 
parole. 

FROM  WARDEN'S  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1889. 

The  indeterminate  sentence  and  parole  is  being  advocated  by 
theorists  and  by  some  practical  prison  managers.  It  is  not  new, 
but  is  the  Irish  system  of  Captain  Maconnba  and  Sir  Walter  Crof- 
ton,  and  has  been  tried  in  Great  Britain,  but  not  with  marked 
success.  It  is  a  dangerous  experiment  to  introduce  into  this 
country,  where  the  courts  have  always  been  considered  the  safest 
arbiters  of  the  law.  Prison  managers  and  prison  officers  are  cer- 
tainly not  empowered  to  alter  or  change  decisions  of  properly  con- 
stituted courts.  The  worst  people  in  the  prisons  get  all  the  benefit 
of  mitigating  contrivances,  commutation  laws,  and  such  like  com- 
promises with  crime  and  criminals. 

They  are  ever  ready  to  accept  any  favors  from  the  community 
they  mean  to  live  off  of  without  producing  anything  in  return. 
They  are  constantly  a  burden  on  the  honest  people,  whether  in  or 
out  of  prison.  On  this  class  all  sympathy  is  wasted. 

Prison  Dietary,  Especially  as  to  the  Use  of  Tobacco  by 

Prisoners* 

At  the  meeting  of  the  National  Prison  Association,  held  in 
New  York,  February  18,  1884,  Mr.  Cassidy  made  these  remarks 
upon  the  topic  under  discussion: 

The  tobacco  in  the  Eastern  Penitentiary  is  under  the  control 
of  the  physician.  Those  who  he  thinks  ought  not  to  have  tobacco 


58  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS. 

he  will  not  allow  to  have  it.  They  generally  all  get  tobacco  who 
have  been  in  the  habit  of  using  it.  There  is  no  tobacco  furnished 
as  a  ration;  they  furnish  their  own.  If  they  earn  money  they  can 
purchase  tobacco  for  chewing  and  smoking,  and  can  also  purchase 
their  matches  for  lighting  their  pipes.  The  matter  of  injury  or 
benefit  to  the  prisoner  is  entirely  under  the  control  of  the  physi- 
cian. If  the  physician  says,  "This  man  is  not  to  have  any  more 
tobacco,"  he  does  not  get  any  more.  It  would  be  a  very  difficult 
thing  to  do  to  give  prisoners  rations  of  tobacco,  and  make  any  dis- 
crimination between  those  who  should  have  it  and  those  who 
should  not,  because  every  man  will  take  his  tobacco  and  hand  it 
to  his  neighbor. 

I  agree  with  Mr.  Brockway  as  far  as  the  use  of  tobacco  on 
people  of  nervous  systems  is  concerned.  Where  they  are  im- 
prisoned, they  will  use  it  more  profusely  than  they  would  if  they 
were  out  in  the  world.  The  great  difficulty  is  to  control  it  in  quan- 
tity, unless  you  cut  it  off  altogether.  That  appears  to  be  a  hard- 
ship, and  is  considered  by  the  great  bulk  of  the  community  a 
species  of  inhumanity,  to  deprive  a  poor  man  of  the  use  of  tobacco, 
if  he  has  been  using  it  continually;  but  I  do  not  think  it  would 
injure  any  one  to  be  cut  off  from  the  use  of  tobacco  at  any  time. 
I  do  not  think  it  would  produce  any  physical  evil  effect.  But  to 
insist  that  you  shall  not  have  tobacco  used  in  a  prison  you  make  a 
law,  and  where  you  have  a  law  you  must  have  a  penalty,  because 
there  is  no  law  without  a  penalty;  and  there  comes  in  an  induce- 
ment for  people  to  violate  a  law.  The  fewer  laws  we  have  the 
fewer  penalties.  Sometimes  penalties  would  act  very  injuriously 
to  some  of  the  people  who  violate  this  law.  If  it  is  a  penalty  for  a 
man  to  bring  his  tobacco  into  the  prison  shop,  the  penalty  would 
be  his  removal  from  whatever  business  he  is  doing.  It  would  be 
a  very  severe  penalty  to  him  for  what  would  be  considered  by  most 
people  a  very  mild  offense.  But  I  agree  that  the  use  of  tobacco  in 
prison  is  not  any  benefit. 

Prison  Diet* 

NATIONAL  PRISON  ASSOCIATION,  HELD  AT     ATLANTA,  GA., 
NOVEMBER,  1886. 

On  the  discussion  of  Prison  Diet,  Mr.  Cassidy  said : 
There  is  no  economy  in  a  short  diet.     The  institution  with 
which  I  am  connected  is  peculiar.     The  meals  are  served  in  the 


I , 


i 


ij! 


I 


i 


BAKERY. 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS.  59 

rooms.  The  overseer,  or  the  man  who  has  charge  of  one  side  of 
the  corridor,  serves  the  meals.  He  furnishes  the  prisoners  with 
their  clothes,  and  with  all  their  wants;  and  they  have  no  others  to 
go  to,  unless  he  doesn't  give  them  what  they  desire,  and  then  they 
can  appeal  to  the  warden.  No  one  comes  between  him  and  his 
prisoner.  He  will  ask  the  prisoner  whether  he  will  have  fat  or 
lean.  Some  don't  like  fat,  and  some  do.  We  serve  Boston  baked 
beans  and  pork.  There  is  no  extra  charge  in  that  hotel  for  serving 
the  meals  in  the  rooms.  The  diet  is  not  fancy,  but  it  is  wholesome. 
There  is  no  contract, — we  never  had  a  contract  since  the  corner- 
stone was  laid  for  supplying  food.  Everything  is  purchased  in  the 
open  market,  for  money,  at  the  best  rates  for  which  the  warden 
can  buy;  and  he  is  the  only  man  who  has  a  chance  of  swindling  the 
State  or  cheating  the  inspectors;  and  it  is  not  so  much  trouble  to 
watch  one  man  as  it  is  a  half-dozen.  We  don't  buy  any  bone. 
The  bone  is  taken  out.  W'e  manage  to  get  beef  from  the  best 
butchers,  and  it  is  of  the  very  best  character.  When  vegetables 
can  be  got  we  use  them.  Turnips,  potatoes,  and  cabbage  you  can 
get  at  any  time.  We  serve  a  ration  of  cheese  occasionally.  We 
have  to  change  and  keep  changing.  We  serve  rice  pudding  once 
in  a  while,  made  with  milk,  raisins,  and  sugar,  the  same  as  you 
make  it  at  home.  They  sent  for  me  and  said,  "Ain't  you  going  to 
change  that  chicken  food  for  us  before  long,  we  are  tired  of  that?" 
And  so  it  is  with  everything.  The  only  real  stand-bys  are  meats, 
and  soups  made  out  of  meat,  with  plenty  of  vegetables.  We  feed 
them  all  they  want,  as  long  as  they  don't. waste  anything.  You 
can't  keep  a  European  house  in  a  prison,  where  the  guests  can  call 
for  just  what  they  want,  and  pay  for  what  they  get.  It  is  easy  to 
gratify  the  wants  of  many  of  the  men,  and  we  do  it.  The  system 
of  serving  the  meals  in  the  room  gives  them  better  opportunity  of 
keeping  their  appetites,  because  they  can  set  their  meal  up  in  the 
closet  if  they  don't  want  it  at  the  time.  They  are  not  compelled  10 
eat  it  on  the  minute.  If  their  dishes  are  not  clean  when  they  are 
sent  up,  they  don't  get  any  meal  at  all.  They  clean  their  own 
dishes.  Each  man  has  water  in  his  room,  and  keeps  his  dishes 
there.  We  use  tin  dishes.  Each  man  has  a  box,  and  we  furnish 
him  with  a  little  whiting  once  a  month,  and  a  little  piece  of  rag; 
and  after  he  washes  his  dishes  he  brightens  them.  No  food  of 
any  kind  is  brought  in  by  the  families  of  prisoners  or  others  than 
the  prison  authorities  from  the  outside  for  any  prisoner,  in  any 


60  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

condition  of  life  or  death.  Anything  the  prisoner  ought  to  have 
should  be  and  is  furnished  him  by  the  prison  authorities.  We 
treat  all  the  prisoners  alike.  Our  cost  per  diem  last  month,  in- 
cluding all  the  officers'  salaries,  and  everything,  was  eighteen  and 
two-thirds  cents,  of  which  about  nine  and  a  half  cents  was  for  food. 
The  friends  of  the  prisoners  may  bring  in  any  kind  of  musical 
instrument  from  a  Jew's-harp  to  a  piano,  but  no  delicacies  of  any 
kind.  We  have  two  church  organs  there  now. 

You  know  that  no  man  can  be  a  prison  warden  unless  he  holds 
all  the  lines.  If  he  lets  go  of  any  of  them  he  is  liable  at  any 
moment  to  have  trouble.  The  plan  advocated  of  admitting  delica- 
cies is  all  very  well  for  sentiment,  or  to  please  the  poor  wife  or 
sister  who  comes  to  see  the  prisoner,  but  we  can't  supervise  those 
things;  and  if  you  let  in  one  thing  another  one  comes  in,  and  it 
opens  the  door  for  mischief  that  you  cannot  control.  A  prison 
government,  to  be  a  good  government,  must  be  a  one-man  govern- 
ment; and  there  must  be  no  interference  with  that  one  man.  After 
all  is  said  and  done,  one  man  should  govern  the  whole  matter. 
In  ninety  cases  out  of  a  hundred,  you  will  find  that  instead  of 
thanking  the  poor  wife,  or  sister,  or  mother,  for  what  is  done  for 
them,  they  will  abuse  them  because  they  don't  do  something  else. 
The  convict  will  ask,  ''Why  don't  you  subscribe  for  a  newspaper 
for  me?"  when  the  poor  woman  has  just  left  her  washtub  or  service 
for  the  afternoon  to  see  this  convict,  who  has  abused  her  all  her 
life.  No  man  should  be  treated  unfairly  or  unjustly;  and  a  man 
to  be  a  warden  of  a  prison  must  discriminate  between  fair,  honest 
treatment  and  the  sentimental  pat  on  the  back,  "Poor  fellow,  you 
oughtn't  to  have  been  here." 

TESTIMONY  BEFORE  LEGISLATIVE  COMMITTEE  MAY  13,  1897. 

Q. — Do  the  prisoners  make  any  complaint  about  the  food? 

A. — Sometimes. 

Q. — What  is  the  substance  of  that  complaint? 

A. — Sometimes  a  man  says  that  he  doesn't  get  enough.  I 
make  inquiry  about  it,  and  in  such  cases  I  very  often  find  that  the 
overseer  has  been  in  the  habit  of  giving  the  man  double  rations, 
when  he  has  any  left. 

Q. — Among  which  class  of  inmates  do  you  find  the  com- 
plaints to  be  more  frequent,  those  who  are  more  intelligent  or  those 
less  so. 


an< 
difl 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  6l 

A. — The  class  of  people  who  have  been  living  promiscuously 
d  getting  a  bite  here  and  there  are  the  ones  who  are  the  most 
difficult  to  please  in  their  food.  An  intelligent  man  does  not,  as  a 
rule,  make  complaint  about  the  food  or  treatment,  or  he  rarely  ever 
does. 

Q. — Is  the  food  the  same  for  the  one  class  as  for  the  other? 

§A. — The  food  is  the  same  for  all,  there  is  no  difference. 
O. — Is  any  distinction  made,  in  that  particular  between  one 
an  and  another? 
A. — Not  a  particle. 
Q. — Have  you  any  particular  or  regular  bill  of  fare  for  the  in- 
stitution, during  the  year? 

A. — We  have  the  dietary,  a  copy  of  which  will  be  found  on 
the  table  here. 

DIETARY  OF  EASTERN  STATE  PENITENTIARY. 

SUNDAY. — Meat  Pie,  composed  of  1800  pounds  of  beef,  2  crates  of 

onions,  and  20  bushels  of  potatoes.* 
MONDAY. — Soup,  composed  of  1700  pounds  of  beef,  4  bushels  of 

potatoes,  2  crates  of  onions,  8  bushels  of  turnips,  4  barrels  of 

cabbage,  2  bushels  of  peas,  and  25  pounds  of  rice.     Rice, 

boiled,  125  pounds.* 
TUESDAY. — Bologna,   750  pounds,    1400  shortcakes,    i   barrel  of 

pickles.* 

WEDNESDAY. — Soup,  same  as  Monday.* 
THURSDAY. — Bean  soup,  1700  pounds  of  beef,  and  10  bushels  of 

beans.* 
FRIDAY. — Stew,   1700  pounds  of  beef,  20  bushels  of  potatoes,  2 

crates  of  onions,  25  bunches  of  potherbs,  and  100  pounds  of 

flour.* 
SATURDAY. — Soup,  same  as  Monday.* 

Roast  beef  and  potatoes  every  three  and  a  half  weeks.* 

Q. — The  food  detailed  in  the  Dietary  is  furnished  regularly  to 
the  inmates  of  this  institution,  is  it? 

A. — 'It  is  furnished  daily;  yes,  sir. 

Q. — Is  it  examined,  all  of  it,  and  found  to  be  in  a  healthy  and 
pure  condition  before  being  served? 

*  Every  morning,  fresh  bread  and  coffee,  as  much  as  may  be  desired, 
the  bread  being  the  ration  for  the  day. 

*  Every  evening,  tea,  as  much  as  may  be  desired. 


62  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

A. — It  must  be  right,  and  if  it  is  not,  it  is  sent  back.  There  is 
no  contract,  and  if  the  man  who  has  furnished  it  says  he  does  not 
like  it  being  returned,  that  is  enough  for  us;  we  have  no  quibble 
with  him  about  the  quantity  or  the  quality  of  the  purchase  we  have 
made.  There  are  no  samples  or  standards  to  restrict  us.  We 
get  beef  from  butchers  who  fill  orders  for  a  large  customer  trade, 
and  there  is  a  good  deal  that  does  not  suit  that  trade.  We  get  the 
beef  off  the  same  cattle  from  which  the  customers  get  it,  but  we  do 
not  get  choice  pieces. 

Q. — What  kind  of  flour  do  you  purchase  for  the  prisoners;  is 
it  the  best-class  of  wheat  flour? 

A. — No,  we  buy  the  wheat,  and  make  the  flour. 

Q. — Do  you  find  that  they  always  make  good  bread? 

A. — Undoubtedly.  There  is  no  discount  on  the  bread. 
Whatever  fault  you  may  find  with  anything  else  you  cannot  find 
any  with  the  bread. 

Q. — What  is  your  opinion,  in  a  general  way,  in  reference  to 
the  cooking  of  the  food,  the  soup,  etc. 

A. — It  is  all  well  cooked,  and  there  is  plenty  of  it. 

Q. — Have  you  heard  of  any  complaints  from  the  prisoners  in 
reference  to  the  quality  of  the  food? 

A. — Oh,  yes.  You  hear  complaints  in  hotels.  If  you  go  to 
anyone  who  has  been  well  raised,  who  has  been  a  gentleman,  and 
has  gotten  here  through  some  fault,  he  will  not  find  any  fault  with 
the  food,  only  those  who  get  a  square  meal  when  they  make  a 
stake  somewhere,  look  at  it  differently. 


Physical  Care,  Liquors,  Tobacco,  Etc. 

NATIONAL  PRISON  ASSOCIATION,  HELD  AT  TORONTO,  CANADA, 
SEPTEMBER  13,  1887. 

Remarks  by  Mr.  Cassidy: 

This  tobacco  question  is  an  endless  one.  Some  use  tobacco, 
—very  many  use  it.  Some  do  not.  Its  use  may  affect  some  peo- 
ple injuriously,  just  as  all  people  cannot  eat  the  same  kind  of  food 
on  account  of  some  peculiarity  of  constitution.  It  would  require 
a  revolution  and  a  great  deal  of  expense  to  eradicate  the  tobacco 
habit,  or  attempt  to  do  it.  Tobacco  has  been  a  benefit  to  the 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  63 

human  race.  There  can  be  no  doubt  about  that.  It  has  created 
a  large  industry,  both  in  the  agricultural  and  manufacturing  busi- 
ness. It  is  a  source  of  revenue  in  most  countries  of  the  world. 
The  same  might  be  said  of  spirituous  liquors.  To  say  that  crime  is 
produced  by  liquor  is  absurd.  In  the  present  stage  of  the  world  it 
would  be  impossible  to  dispense  with  alcohol.  More  than  two- 
thirds  of  all  that  is  manufactured  is  used  in  the  arts.  Sir  Walter 
R.aleigh  was,  I  think,  one  of  the  greatest  benefactors  that  ever 
lived.  He  introduced  the  use  of  tobacco  and  potatoes.  Potatoes 
have  saved  and  kept  in  existence  an  entire  nation  of  people  that 
had  no  other  food  and  were  permitted  to  have  no  other. 

The  use  of  tobacco  in  prisons  can  be  controlled;  everything 
allowed  in  a  prison  ought  to  be  under  control.  To  undertake  to 
keep  it  out  of  prison  entirely  is  to  try  almost  an  impossibility.  It 
is  unwise  to  make  any  rule  that  cannot  be  substantially  enforced. 
Every  such  attempt  and  failure  weakens  authority.  One  of  the 
greatest  troubles  in  English  prisons  is  to  keep  out  tobacco. 
Prisoners  will  resort  to  all  sorts  of  devices  in  order  to  obtain  it. 

We  manufacture  cigars  out  of  tobacco  in  the  Eastern  Peni- 
tentiary, and  that  department  is  one  in  which  the  services  of  the 
physician  are  rarely  required.  I  simply  state  a  fact,  and  do  not 
attempt  to  explain  the  cause. 

Q. — Have  you  not  found  the  eyesight  of  prisoners  bad  who 
work  in  cells  and  make  cigars? 

A. — No,  sir.  We  have  had  several  excuses  of  that  kind  to 
get  out,  but  never  a  real  case. 

Prison  Labor* 

AT  THE  MEETING  OF  THE  NATIONAL  PRISON  ASSOCIATION 
HELD  AT  NEW  YORK,  FEBRUARY,  1884, 

Mr.  Cassidy  made  the  following  remarks  upon  the  subject  of 
Prison  Labor: 

Mr.  Chairman:  Labor  is  the  base  of  prosperity  of  every  State 
and  Government.  All  that  the  State  takes  pride  in  is  the  results  of 
its  labor.  The  mistake  was  made  by  the  devisors  of  the  law  when 
they  attached  labor  as  a  penalty  for  crime.  It  is  putting  labor  in 
the  position  of  degradation  that  it  is  made  a  penalty  for  crime,  and 
it  makes  it  odious  to  people  who  do  not  commit  crime.  The  safety 
of  every  community  is  in  its  laboring  population. 


64  WARDEN    CASS1DY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

Much  has  been  said  about  prison  labor.  Prison  labor  and 
free  labor  are  precisely  one  and  the  same  thing;  the  production  of 
each  is  the  production  of  labor.  The  system  of  applying  the  labor 
and  the  disposition  of  it  by  those  that  have  control  of  it  is  quite 
another  matter.  There  would  be  no  opposition  to  prison  labor  if 
it  was  controlled  entirely  by  the  State.  There  would  be  no  opposi- 
tion by  the  outside  labor,  which  we  have  heard  referred  to  as  being 
in  opposition  to  prison  labor  and  getting  the  assistance  of  the  poli- 
tician, or  the  politician  getting  the  assistance  of  the  labor  people 
to  get  up  an  excitement  against  convict  labor.  The  opposition  is 
not  to  labor,  and  not  to  convict  labor.  It  is  to  the  method  in 
which  the  convict  labor  is  used,  a  concentration  of  labor.  The 
State  goes  into  partnership  with  an  individual,  furnishes  part  of  the 
capital  in  the  way  of  shops,  power,  and  part  of  the  machinery,  and 
they  start  a  factory  together  with  their  interests  mutual.  It  then 
ceases  to  be  a  prison;  it  ceases  to  be  an  institution  that  is  cared  for 
particularly  by  the  State,  because  the  State  has  divided  its  interests 
and  called  in  another  party  to  assist  it  in  doing  a  work  that  entirely 
belongs  to  the  State.  The  State,  by  its  laws,  deprives  the  individ- 
ual of  his  liberty,  and  by  that  law  he  is  sentenced  to  a  term  of  servi- 
tude. 

Labor  is  not  a  punishment.  You  may  make  it  a  penalty,  but 
not  a  punishment.  People  who  labor  day  after  day  all  their  life 
do  not  do  it  for  punishment.  The  man  who  carries  brick  and  mor- 
tar, which  is  as  hard  labor,  I  suppose,  as  you  can  get  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  on  the  top  of  one  of  these  high  buildings,  when  the 
building  is  done  he  seeks  some  other  place  to  do  the  same  thing. 
Reasonable,  sensible  men  do  not  go  around  seeking  punishment 
year  in  and  year  out.  There  is  no  punishment  in  labor. 

The  State  enters  into  this  contract  with  an  individual,  and  di- 
vides its  responsibility.  The  responsibility  is  what  is  thrown  on  a 
man  who  has  been  taken  in  as  partner.  The  prison  official  is  ap- 
pointed by  the  State,  subject  to  the  direction  of  a  contractor.  He 
is  subject  to  the  direction  of  a  contractor,  because  the  contractor 
directs  the  labor  and  everything  that  is  of  interest  to  the  prisoner, 
and  everything  in  the  prison  is  managed  to  agree  with  the  direction 
of  the  contractor.  He  must  be  considered  in  everything  that  per- 
tains to  the  welfare  of  the  prisoner.  If  the  prisoner  takes  sick  the 
contractor's  interest  must  be  considered,  and  some  other  prisoner 
equally  as  good  furnished  in  his  place  if  he  cannot  appear  in  the 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  65 

morning  and  go  to  work  with  the  rest.  The  State  has  no  right  to 
delegate  part  of  this  authority  to  an  individual  or  enter  into  a  part- 
nership in  a  manufactory.  That  is  where  the  opposition  from  free 
labor  comes. 

Now  much  is  said  against  trades  unions  and  the  opposition 
they  make  to  capital,  but,  gentlemen,  there  are  two  sides  to  that 
question.  Labor  is  entitled  to  protection  in  a  government  like 
this,  which  is  governed  by  the  people,  as  much  as  capital  is  entitled 
to  it,  and  recently  the  only  legislation  labor  has  been  able  to  get 
is  legislation  against  contract  convict  labor.  The  labor  thinks  that 
the  concentration  of  a  number  of  people  belonging  to  the  State, 
given  into  the  hands  of  an  individual  to  operate  in  mass  against 
their  labor,  is  not  the  right  thing.  They  object  to  it.  They  have 
a  right  to  object  to  it.  The  public  account  system  of  prison  labor 
is  the  only  system  that  the  State  has  any  right  to  employ.  It  is 
advanced  that  the  same  amount  of  money  cannot  be  made.  If  we 
are  to  reduce  the  proceedings  of  our  government  like  the  States  of 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  or  Ohio,  down  to  the  vulgar  fraction  of 
making  a  few  dollars  out  of  its  convicts  and  selling  them  to  the 
highest  bidder,  particularly  in  a  country  where  slavery  doesn't 
exist  at  all,  there  is  no  economy  in  it  to  the  State.  Everything  has 
to  be  run  in  the  interest  of  the  contractor  where  there  is  a  contract 
convict  prison;  everything  is  run  in  his  interest.  He  makes  a  con- 
tract for  a  length  of  time;  he  secures  himself  for  many  years;  the 
State  has  no  redress  to  withdraw  from  that  contract  at  any  time. 

I  question  the  right  of  a  State  to  bind  itself  in  any  partnership 
with  any  individual  or  with  any  government.  It  is  anti-republican 
and  doesn't  belong  to  our  institutions.  The  great  government  of 
the  United  States  will  send  prisoners  from  New  Orleans  to  a  prison 
at  Albany  for  the  only  reason  that  there  is  a  contractor  there  that 
will  pay  a  higher  price  for  them  than  they  will  anywhere  else ;  and 
the  management  of  the  Albany  prison  agrees  to  pay  transportation 
from  New  Orleans  to  Albany  and  charge  the  government  nothing 
for  their  keep,  particularly  in  a  country  like  this,  putting  their  citi- 
zens in  exile!  A  man  lives  in  New  Orleans  with  his  family  and  is 
exiled  to  Albany.  It  is  not  much  farther  from  London  to  Sydney. 
It  may  as  well  be  the  same  thing.  There  is  no  good  sense  hi  any 
congregation  of  contract  convict  labor.  It  is  only  the  individual 
that  is  reaping  a  benefit  from  it,  and  he  has  the  advantage  of  his 
hand  all  the  time. 


66  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS. 

No  labor  is  contracted  out  at  the  Eastern  Penitentiary.  The 
prisoner,  on  an  average,  will  earn  about  half  his  keep.  His  keep 
is  nineteen  cents  per  day.  The  average  would  be  about  one-half. 
He  earns  about  ten  cents  a  day.  The  labor  is  sold  in  the  open 
market,  and  everything  made  is  made  without  machinery.  In  all 
the  convict  contract  prisons  there  must  be  machinery  to  facilitate 
the  manufacture  of  the  goods.  The  machine  does  the  work,  and 
any  kind  of  people  that  may  happen  to  come  to  the  prison,  either 
intelligent  or  not,  can  soon  be  learned  to  move  a  bundle  of  shoes 
from  one  machine  to  another,  and  the  machine  does  the  work. 
The  individual  actually  gets  no  benefit  from  his  term  of  imprison- 
ment. On  the  individual  treatment  he  learns  what  he  does  learn. 
If  he  learns  to  make  shoes,  he  can  make  them  anywhere.  All  the 
goods  that  are  made  are  put  up  on  the  open  market  in  fair  competi- 
tion with  anybody  else's  goods,  and  they  generally  bring  a  better 
price  over  the  same  goods  in  the  market,  from  the  fact  that  they 
are  better  made  than  the  machine-made.  It  is  difficult  to  get  the 
kind  of  labor  that  will  suit  all  kinds  of  people  in  prison. 

Q. — The  prisoners  work  in  the  cells? 

A. — Each  one  in  his  own  room. 

Q. — What  size? 

A. — Eight  by  sixteen  feet. 

Q. — Are  there  more  than  two  to  any  one  cell? 

A. — We  have  sometimes  three  prisoners  in  a  cell. 

Q. — This  is  in  conflict  with  your  system? 

A. — It  is  contrary  to  our  system;  it  is  a  necessity.  We  have 
more  prisoners  than  we  have  rooms. 

Q. — These  prisoners  are  sentenced  to  solitary  confinement? 

A. — They  are  sentenced  to  separate  confinement  and  individ- 
ual treatment,  and  are  not  compelled  to  associate  with  people  that 
they  do  not  like,  or  with  people  that  would  be  obnoxious  or  in- 
jurious to  their  morals. 

Q. — Should  you  object  to  more  than  three  in  a  cell? 

A. — I  would  object  to  more  than  one  in  a  cell  under  most 
every  condition.  There  may  be  special  conditions  where  it  would 
be  proper  and  beneficial  to  the  individuals  concerned  to  associate 
one  .or  two  together.  One  person  may  be  weak,  and  it  requires 
some  one  to  take  care  of  him;  a  man  may  be  sick  and  require  a 
nurse.  We  have  no  hospital,  no  necessity  for  it;  the  people  are 
treated  in  their  rooms.  If  a  man  is  ill,  he  has  a  man  to  take  care 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISON^    AND    CONVICTS.  6? 

of  him,  the  same  as  he  would  in  a  hotel  if  he  had  the  money  to  pay 
for  it. 

The  public  account  system,  as  it  is  termed,  has  always  been 
in  operation  there.  There  has  never  been  any  other  system  with 
the  exception  of  a  piece-price  plan,  which  I  understand  is  a  new 
system.  We  have  tried  that  frequently.  Sometimes  we  can  get 
an  opportunity  to  manufacture  goods  for  so  much.  We  take  the 
materials  and  make  the  goods  for  so  much.  It  will  work  under 
some  condition  of  things.  Sometimes  it  don't  work  so  well.  We 
do  not  make  any  contract  for  any  length  of  time.  The  prison  au- 
thorities can  break  off  any  minute  doing  any  work  for  any  one. 
It  has  been  some  years  since  we  manufactured  goods  in  that  way. 
Since  then  we  have  been  doing  our  own  work  entirely. 

Q. — What  is  the  excess  of  expenditures  over  receipts  in  the 
whole  management,  including  everything? 

A. — It  would  be  about  $40,000.  The  State  pays  the  salaries 
and  furnishes  the  prison,  but  counties  that  send  their  prisoners  to 
the  prison  pay  for  the  keep  of  their  prisoners,  over  and  above  what 
the  prisoner  does  not  earn.  All  the  prisoner  earns  is  credited  to 
the  county  that  he  came  from.  An  individual  account  is  kept  with 
each  prisoner  and  his  county.  Some  prisoners  make  quite  a  good 
deal  more  than  their  keep.  The  county  gets  the  benefit  of  that.  The 
piece-price  plan  has  always  been  in  operation  as  far  as  the  prison 
and  the  prisoner  are  concerned.  He  has  always  worked  on  the 
piece-price  plan.  He  makes  so  much  that  is  allowed  for  him  to 
make,  to  cover  his  cost  of  keep.  All  he  makes  over  that  is  divided 
equally  between  him  and  the  county  that  he  comes  from.  It  is 
placed  to  his  credit  on  the  books  of  the  institution,  subject  to  his 
order.  He  can  pay  it  to  his  family  at  any  time,  if  they  choose  to 
come  and  see  him,  or  it  can  remain  there  until  he  goes  out;  or  he 
can  furnish  himself  with  some  things  that  are  allowed.  He  is  al- 
lowed a  county  newspaper.  Each  prisoner  is  allowed  to  have  the 
paper  that  is  printed  in  the  county  that  he  comes  from. 

Q. — If  he  does  not  earn  more  than  half  the  expense  of  keep- 
ing him,  how  can  there  be  any  margin  to  his  credit? 

A. — You  are  taking  the  question  collectively,  while  the  treat- 
ment is  individual.  Some  individuals  do  not  earn  anything;  the 
amount  is  not  divided  pro  rata  with  the  counties.  Each  individual 
pays  his  county  just  what  he  earns.  Some  men  will  earn  from 
$1.50  to  $2.00  a  day  on  some  kinds  of  work, — experts.  Another 
man  will  not  earn  anything, — an  incapable,  a  cripple,  a  lunatic. 


68  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

Q. — Have  you  any  arrangement  by  which  you  provide  em- 
ployment for  the  prisoner  after  he  leaves  you? 

A. — None,  sir.  It  is  supposed  that  he  is  not  known  in  the 
community,  and  his  opportunity  for  getting  employment  is  just  as 
good  as  any  other  man's  that  is  seeking  employment  in  the  street. 
He  is  not  known  in  the  criminal  class  unless  he  was  acquainted 
with  them  before  he  came  into  prison.  When  he  gets  out,  his  op- 
portunity for  employment  is  just  as  good  as  any  other  man's  in  the 
community. 

Q. — Have  you  means  of  saying  what  percentage  you  receive 
back  of  those  who  leave  you? 

A. — Our  reports  give  us  all  the  minute  details  of  reconvictions 
and  every  other  kind  of  data.  I  do  not  carry  the  figures  always 
with  me.  We  keep  a  very  correct  account  of  all  statistics  that  pos- 
sibly can  be  gathered,  and  our  reconvictions  are  much  more  than 
they  ought  to  be. 

Q. — Mr.  Round  stated  they  were  65  per  cent,  in  that  (N.  Y.) 
State.  Do  you  suppose  they  are  as  high  as  that  in  Pennsylvania? 

A. — The  reconvictions  to  our  prison  would  not  run  over  25 
per  cent. ;  that  is,  of  persons  discharged  from  our  prison ;  but  recon- 
victions would  run  up  as  high  as  50  per  cent,  for  men  who  had 
been  in  other  prisons.  There  is  no  intelligent  way  of  treating  peo- 
ple, only  individually.  It  may  be  the  most  expensive,  on  the  sur- 
face, to  the  State,  but  it  is  the  least  expensive  in  the  long  run,  with 
better  results  both  to  the  individual  prisoners  and  to  the  com- 
munity that  they  belong  in,  and  better  results  to  the  prison  officials. 
They  are  more  easily  managed,  less  reason  for  any  punishment  of 
any  kind.  We  have  no  necessity  for  any  punishment  in  the  indi- 
vidual's treatment,  no  reason  for  it. 

Q. — It  used  to  be  largely  charged  upon  your  system  that  it 
promoted  lunacy? 

A. — That  has  been  alleged.  There  has  been  no  foundation  in 
fact  for  it.  There  has  always  been  a  persistent  opposition  to  the 
individual  system  in  this  country.  The  opposition  and  the  sides 
taken  on  the  subject  assume  the  violence  of  political  partisanship 
without  any  regard  to  reasoning  out  the  question;  but  I  am  very 
glad  to  know  that  all  the  changes  that  are  proposed  by  the  gentle- 
men who  have  been  managing  the  congregate  system,  all  tend  to- 
wards individualization.  First,  you  propose  to  abandon  herding 
together,  and  go  to  grading.  That  is  one  long  step.  Do  yon  pro- 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS.  69 

pose  to  get  away  from  congregation,  and  go  to  classification? 
Now,  you  have  only  to  go  one  step  further — and  it  is  not  a  long 
one — separation,  individualization.  It  is  the  only  reasonable, 
philosophical  method  of  treating  people.  There  are  no  two  peo- 
ple made  alike,  no  two  people  constituted  in  their  physique,  in  their 
disposition,  or  in  their  habits  alike,  and  they  cannot  be  treated 
alike  and  treated  properly.  The  men  who  come  to  prison  who  are 
guilty  of  no  crime  are  few.  There  are  some.  There  are  many 
who  come  to  prison  who  are  guilty  of  crimes  against  persons  where 
property  has  been  no  part  of  the  offense — not  murders;  they  are 
convicted  for  murder,  but  they  were  really  killings,  manslaughters, 
violent  assault  and  batteries.  As  far  as  truth  and  honesty  is  con- 
cerned, those  men  are  as  good  as  any  man  in  the  community  in 
which  they  live.  Why  should  they  be  compelled  to  associate  with 
people  who  will  damage  them  for  life  by  reason  of  their  knowledge 
of  them,  that  would  meet  them  wherever  they  could? 

I  wish  to  reply  to  what  Professor  Wayland  said  of  the  trades 
learned  in  prison,  and  the  amount  that  the  prisoner  can  earn  while 
learning  a  trade.  Boys,  years  ago,  had  to  serve  five  years  to  learn 
any  trade;  people  who  come  to  prison  cannot  earn  wages  at  me- 
chanical work  immediately.  Trades  are  not  got  ready-made.  It 
takes  time  and  money  expended  in  loss  of  material  while  they  are 
learning  this  trade.  We  teach  all  our  people  trades  that  we  can. 


Prison  Labor,  and  Answers  to  Miscellaneous  Questions 
in  Reference  to  the  Separate  System* 

AT  THE  CONFERENCE  OF  OFFICERS  OF  PRISONS  AND  REFORMA- 
TORIES, HELD  AT  CHICAGO,  DECEMBER  9-11,  1884, 

by  unanimous  request  of  the  members,  the  chairman,  Mr.  Cassidy, 
made  the  following  remarks  upon 

PRISON  LABOR. 

The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire.  The  question  of  labor 
throughout  the  country  has  been  pretty  generally  discussed  during 
the  last  four  or  five  months,  and  the  rights  and  wrongs  of  labor 
have  been  pretty  fully  ventilated.  The  capitalists  and  the  people 


70  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

who  are  employed  to  do  the  labor  do  not  agree  upon  the  terms, 
and  there  is  a  constant  irritation  throughout  the  country  on  this 
subject.  While  capital  has  had  all  the  legislation  to  protect  itself 
that  it  has  ever  asked  for  or  required,  the  other  side  has  had  very 
little  legislation.  The  only  legislation  that  the  laborers  have  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  on  this  subject  has  been  in  regard  to  contract 
prison  labor.  The  State  takes  charge  of  an  individual  for  the 
commission  of  crime;  no  other  authority  has  any  right  to  take 
charge  of  him.  That  authority  is  vested  in  the  State.  The  prison 
officers  of  a  State  are  the  recognized  authorities  for  the  care  of  the 
people  whom  the  State  has  taken  charge  of,  and  relieve  them  of 
the  responsibility  of  taking  care  of  themselves.  When  the  State 
assumes  that  charge  of  an  individual,  no  statute  law  of  any  State 
gives  it  power  to  delegate  that  authority  to  other  but  the  legalized 
officers  of  the  State. 

The  great  States,  like  Illinois,  New  York,  or  Pennsylvania, 
should  not  traffic  in  the  labor  of  the  people  whom  they  have  taken 
by  compulsion  from  the  walks  of  labor,  and  hand  it  over  to  people 
who  farm  it  out  as  a  business.  That  is  not  becoming  in  a  great 
commonwealth.  The  laboring  people  of  the  country  have  some 
rights  that  ought  to  be  respected,  and  there  are  two  sides  to  this 
question,  look  at  it  as  we  may.  An  individual  furnishes  a  certain 
amount  of  capital ;  the  State  furnishes  an  equal  amount  of  capital, — 
if  not  in  money,  in  property;  there  is  a  partnership  entered  into 
between  the  State  and  an  individual  to  run  a  factory  of  some  kind, 
to  carry  on  a  manufacturing  business  together,  and  the  profits  are 
not  equally  divided.  It  is  asserted  that  the  State  receives  more 
profit  from  a  system  of  contract  labor  than  it  would  by  carrying  on 
business  for  itself.  It  is  asserted  by  people  who  have  charge  of 
prisoners  that,  under  the  contract  system,  they  have  been  able  to 
get  more  remuneration  for  the  labor  of  their  prisoners;  why  that 
should  be  so  has  never  been  clearly  explained  by  any  of  them. 
The  only  explanation  that  has  been  made, — and  it  is  an  unsatisfac- 
tory and  very  humiliating  one  to  make, — is  that  it  is  owing  to  the 
lack  of  capacity  of  the  people  who  have  charge  of  the  prison.  One 
individual  contractor  will  take  hold  of  the  labor  of  a  prison  and 
manage  his  business  at  a  profit.  All  the  business  that  is  done  is 
done  by  this  individual  contractor.  What  else  is  required  to  be 
done  in  a  prison,  so  far  as  thought  and  labor  are  concerned,  does 
not  amount  to  much.  If  a  prison  warden  has  not  the  capacity  to 


ROOM  IN  EIGHTH  BLOCK. — KNITTING  HOSIERY. 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS.  ?I 

manage  his  prison  and  manage  its  labor,  why  should  not  the  State 
give  the  contractor  the  miserable  salary  it  pays  its  warden,  and  let 
him  be  warden  and  contractor  too?  They  assert  that  an  individual 
cannot  do  this.  An  individual  does  do  this,  all  but  looking  after 
the  clothing  of  the  prisoners  and  furnishing  them  with  their  food, 
and  that  is  done  by  contract;  the  prison  officers  have  little  to  do 
with  the  matter.  I  do  not  say  that  the  prison  officers  have  very 
little  to  do ;  they  are  poorly  paid  for  what  they  do  do.  They  cannot 
do  anything  else ;  they  are  unfitted  for  other  business.  After  being 
associated  for  a  term  of  years  with  the  worst  classes  of  the  com- 
munity, it  is  natural  to  suppose  they  would  be  unfitted  for  any 
other  business  outside  of  that. 

In  favor  of  the  contract  system,  it  is  asserted  that  prisons  have 
been  running  in  debt  under  the  State  authority.  The  causes  of 
this  running  in  debt  have  not  been  given.  It  is  not  the  change  of 
system  and  the  manner  of  doing  the  work  that  makes  the  differ- 
ence. In  New  York  and  other  prisons,  where  the  State  account 
has  been  a  failure,  it  was  the  stealing.  The  money  sunk  by  the 
State  of  New  York  in  this  work  was  stolen  by  the  people  who  had 
the  management  of  it.  It  does  not  follow  that  the  system  of  State 
account  was  responsible  for  the  loss  in  their  business;  but  they  will 
make  a  comparison  between  the  loss  then  and  the  increase  now. 
Manufacturing  business,  at  the  time  the  State  account  was  in 
operation,  was  dull,  and  there  was  little  remuneration  for  it,  just 
as  it  is  now,  when  we  are  running  on  a  .very  shallow  bar  in  the 
way  of  business  all  over  the  country.  It  is  no  part  of  the  business 
of  prison  wardens,  however,  to  say  what  the  State  shall  determine 
in  regard  to  the  employment  of  its  convicts;  their  only  business  is 
to  care  for  them  in  the  best  manner  they  know  how.  Any  expres- 
sion on  the  subject  of  convict  labor  would  come  with  a  bad  grace 
from  the  people  who  are  managing  prisons;  that  is  a  matter 
entirely  for  legislation.  Our  business  is  confined  strictly  to  the 
administration  of  the  prison,  and  I  hope  that  we  will  not  put  our- 
selves in  the  ridiculous  position  of  committing  any  number  of 
prison  wardens  to  a  subject  that  is  of  no  use  to  discuss.  Every 
warden  present  may  say,  with  both  hands  up,  that  he  cannot  man- 
age his  prison  without  contract  labor.  It  matters  not  what  we 
say;  the  declaration  has  gone  forth,  and  the  people  will  not  sustain 
convict  contract  labor.  The  noisy  people  have  condemned  the 
system,  and  the  demagogue,  and  any  one  who  can  make  any  capital 


72  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

out  of  it,  go  on  that  side.  Every  man  who  works  for  a  living  sees 
it  in  that  way.  There  is  no  way  for  the  State  to  secure  the  care 
of  its  people  but  to  dispose  of  that  labor  in  the  open  market,  just 
the  same  as  other  people  who  do  a  manufacturing  business;  and,  if 
times  are  dull  and  they  cannot  sell  their  goods,  they  will  have  to 
reduce  their  production,  just  the  same  as  the  factories  and  mines 
are  shutting  down  all  over  the  country,  not  on  account  of  convict 
labor,  but  on  account  of  over-production  and  the  high  rate  of 
taxation  that  runs  into  the  cost  of  goods.  People  are  over-sup- 
plied; we  have  been  making  too  many  goods.  And  it  is  just  so 
with  the  prisons;  they  will  have  to  dispose  of  their  goods  the  best 
way  they  can.  If  they  cannot  succeed  in  one  line  of  business,  let 
them  try  another. 

It  is  essential  that  the  people  confined  in  prisons  should  have 
work.  There  is  very  little  disposition  on  the  part  of  convicts  to 
avoid  work.  In  the  prison  I  am  engaged  in,  the  greatest  punish- 
ment is  to  deprive  a  man  of  the  opportunity  to  labor.  An  idle  man 
will  tire  of  his  idleness  sooner  than  the  warden,  and  he  will  ask  for 
work, — any  kind  that  you  choose  to  give  him.  There  are,  of 
course,  exceptions  to  all  rules.  There  are  men  who  will  not  work 
at  all,  unless  they  are  compelled,  and  the  old  rate  of  wage-labor  is 
the  only  remedy  for  that  class  outside  of  prison.  Bread  does  not 
grow  on  trees ;  it  has  to  be  earned  by  some  one,  and  if  an  idler  gets 
bread,  to  the  production  of  which  he  has  not  contributed,  he  has 
infringed  on  somebody's  rights.  In  prison  he  should  get  just  that 
amount  of  bread  he  has  worked  for,  and  that  is  all  a  man  gets  who 
has  to  work  for  a  living  outside.  Labor  is  no  punishment;  it  can- 
not be  classed  in  any  way  as  a  punishment.  A  man  with  a  large 
family  to  take  care  of  goes  to  work  day  in  and  day  out,  and  as 
soon  as  he  is  out  of  work  in  one  place  he  goes  to  another.  People 
do  not  go  around  looking  for  punishment. 

Q. — Do  you  take  away  any  portion  of  a  man's  diet  if  he  re- 
fuses to  work? 

A. — Many  refuse  to  do  the  amount  of  work  required  of  them 
from  some  kind  of  capricious  notion,  and  then  they  are  changed  to 
something  else.  It  is  the  best  plan  to  give  them  a  change  if  they 
desire  it. 

Q. — What  would  you  do  in  a  shop  where  the  men  work  to- 
gether? 

A. — That  is  where  the  inconvenience  of  congregation  comes 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  73 

in.  Where  you  have  a  single  individual  to  treat  you  can  treat  him 
just  as  his  case  deserves.  When  you  have  a  shop  full  of  people, 
and  you  have  to  treat  one  individual  in  that  shop,  you  have  to  treat 
him  so  that  you  will  not  offend  the  rest  and  demoralize  them. 
Therefore,  you  cannot  treat  him  properly;  you  cannot  treat  him 
as  his  case  requires.  In  the  first  place,  the  contractor  does  not 
want  him  treated.  He  does  not  want  the  man  to  lay  idle  three  or 
four  days,  until  he  will  resume  work  cheerfully.  I  have  never  had 
actual  experience,  but  that  is  where  the  experience,  I  think,  will 
come  in. 

Q. — Those  who  have  had  experience  do  not  find  it  so. 

A; — Well,  I  am  free  to  say  that  it  is  easier  to  run  a  prison  with 
somebody  else  to  do  if  than  to  do  it  yourself.  But  this  subject  of 
labor  is  a  very  serious  one  both  in  and  out  of  prison,  and  it  is  a 
thing  that  requires  the  adjustment  of  legislation.  No  legislation, 
probably,  can  improve  the  condition  of  both  parties.  Nothing 
can  affect  that  but  the  natural  law  of  supply  and  demand.  All 
legislation  which  attempts  that  is  futile,  because  it  never  has,  and 
never  can,  operate.  There  is  a  law  of  supply  and  demand  which 
controls  the  market.  It  is  belittling  to  a  great  commonwealth  like 
Illinois,  which  covers  more  territory  than  the  kingdom  of  England, 
to  be  hesitating  about  a  question  of  how  much  money  can  be  made 
out  of  the  convict  class.  The  State  should  take  the  entire  charge 
of  convicts  within  its  borders.  It  should  furnish  them  with  labor, 
dispose  of  the  goods,  and  regulate  everything  in  regard  to  the 
prisons.  Perhaps  that  would  do  some  men  injustice  who  have 
money  invested  in  prison  contracts;  but  I  understand  many  of 
them  would  be  glad  to  throw  up  their  contracts,  not  because  there 
is  not  a  prospect  of  having  them  renewed  in  the  future,  but  be- 
cause there  is  a  depression  in  business,  and  they  cannot  sell  their 
goods.  I  have  no  doubt  they  would  like  to  be  relieved  of  the  con- 
tracts they  have  made  to  supply  the  convicts  with  labor. 

Q. — What  is  the  amount  of  your  appropriation? 

A. — Forty  thousand  dollars,  which  pays  the  expenses,  keeps 
the  building  in  repair,  and  carries  on  the  library. 

Q. — Does  it  feed  the  prisoners? 

A. — No,  the  support  and  maintenance  is  paid  by  the  county 
sending  the  prisoners.  All  the  prisoners  earn  is  credited  to  the 
county.  If  there  is  any  deficiency  the  county  pays  the  difference 
at  the  end  of  the  year.  Some  prisoners  earn  a  great  deal  more 
than  their  keep,  and  return  a  profit  to  the  county. 


74  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

Q. — Does  a  prisoner  get  any  portion  of  his  earnings  if  he 
makes  more  than  his  support? 

A. — He  gets  one-half  of  what  he  earns  above  his  keep. 

Q. — What  is  the  average  cost  to  the  county? 

A. — Last  year  it  was  nineteen  and  a  half  cents  per  diem  per 
capita. 

Q. — In  addition  to  the  earnings? 

A. — No;  that  was  the  actual  cost  of  the  keep  per  diem  per 
capita.  That  includes  everything  except  salaries,  repairs,  libraries, 
etc. 

Q. — Everything  over  the  $40,000. 

A. — Yes ;  that  is  the  actual  cost.  What  a  prisoner  earns  above 
that  the  county  gets  credit  for  half,  and  he  gets  credit  for  the  other 
half. 

Q. — What  is  the  average  number  of  your  inmates? 

A. — A  little  below  1000.  The  whole  population  would  be 
about  1600. 

The  prisons  that  are  self-sustaining,  under  the  contract  sys- 
tem, do  not  give  us  all  the  figures  pertaining  to  the  work.  In  New 
York  they  have, a  number  of  prisons,  and  they  only  give  us  figures 
for  Sing  Sing,  which  shows  very  large  earnings,  much  to  the  credit 
of  Warden  Brush.  They  rarely  tell  us  that  Clinton  costs  from 
$50,000  to  $75,000  a  year,  and  that  Auburn  loses  money,  or  men- 
tion the  thousand  prisoners  on  Blackwell's  Island  from  which  there 
is  no  return. 

Q. — They  are  not  State  prisoners? 

A. — No,  but  they  are  in  the  State,  and  earn  nothing.  In  Clin- 
ton they  lose  a  great  deal  of  money,  and  they  never  tell  us  that. 
The  great  State  of  Pennsylvania  ought  to  take  credit  for  being 
able  to  pay  for  taking  care  of  its  convicts,  and  giving  them  an 
opportunity  of  doing  right  when  they  leave  prison.  No  criminal 
forms  bad  associations  there.  He  goes  out  just  as  good  as  he  goes 
in,  and  his  chances  of  earning  bread  when  he  is  discharged  are 
just  as  good  as  any  of  the  fifty  thousand  persons  in  Philadelphia 
who  have  to  go  out  day  by  day  and  ask  for  work. 

Q. — Don't  you  think  his  treatment  has  improved  his  chances 
for  securing  work? 

A. — Yes,  his  chances  are  very  much  improved,  because  he  has 
been  educated  to  do  something. 

Q. — Have  you  any  statistics  from  which  you  can  found  an 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  75 

estimate  of  the  percentage  of  reconvictions  of  the  men  you  dis- 
charge? 

A. — The  reconvictions  of  the  crime-class  of  people  to  our 
prisons  are  the  same  as  to  other  prisons. 

Q. — What  is  the  percentage? 

A. — The  reconvictions  of  habitual  convicts  to  our  institution 
alone  are  about  25  per  cent.  Our  total  reconvicts  from  all  penal 
institutions  form  about  50  per  cent,  of  the  prison  population. 

Q. — What  do  you  call  the  crime-class? 

A. — Professional  thieves. 

Q. — Then  your  system  does  not  reform  any  more  than  any 
other  system? 

A. — Not  of  that  class  of  people.  Seventy-five  per  cent,  of 
those  who  are  convicted  for  the  first  offense  are  never  heard  of  at 
all. 

Q. — Then  wherein  is  your  prison  better  than  any  other  in 
regard  to  the  percentage  of  men  reconvicted? 

A. — The  young  man  who  goes  into  a  prison  on  the  congre- 
gate plan  is  thrown  among  the  worst  class  of  people,  and  he  is 
ridiculed  out  of  all  good  intentions  he  may  have.  There  is  noth- 
ing that  will  cause  a  young  man  to  go  over  the  line  of  rectitude 
quicker  than  ridicule. 

Q. — That  is  theory;  but  do  other  prisons  show  a  larger  per- 
centage of  returns? 

A.— Yes,  they  do. 

Q. — Do  the  statistics  show  that  fact? 

A. — I  think  they  do. 

We  know  that  under  the  individual  treatment  they  do  not 
form  bad  associations.  Whatever  that  advantage  may  be,  we  have 
it.  We  are  inclined  to  think  that  it  is  an  advantage.  Our  system 
is  carried  on  by  the  authority  and  under  the  laws  of  the  State. 
The  Pennsylvania  system  is  known  all  over  the  world.  It  origi- 
nated in  the  Eastern  Penitentiary.  The  first  prison  was  organized 
in  Allegheny  on  the  separate  plan.  The  Eastern  Penitentiary  was 
commenced  in  1821,  and  was  first  occupied  in  1829,  and  has  been 
in  successful  operation  for  fifty-five  years.  It  has  consequently 
gone  far  beyond  any  experiment.  It  has  been  adopted  in  the 
principal  states  of  Europe.  The  best  prisons  in  Europe  to-day  are 
those  conducted  on  the  separate  system.  The  best  prisons  of 
France  and  Italy  are  modeled  on  the  Pennsylvania  plan.  While 


76  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

we  may  disagree  in  regard  to  the  employment  of  the  people,  the 
Eastern  Penitentiary  has  been  managed  admirably  on  the  convict 
contract  labor  system.  There  is  no  better  managed  prison  in  this 
country.  Our  system  is  a  little  more  expensive,  but  it  is  claimed 
that  it  is  more  beneficial  to  the  community ;  and  what  conduces  to 
the  best  interests  and  protection  of  society  is  the  best  thing  for  the 
State  to  adopt. 

Q. — How  do  they  work  in  your  prison? 

A. — Each  individual  works  in  the  cell  he  occupies  at  shoe- 
making,  tailoring,  shirt  making,  cigar  making,  stocking  making, 
etc.  The  cells  are  rooms  with  no  appearance  of  prison  cells  about 
them.  They  are  eight  by  sixteen  feet,  and  twelve  feet  high.  They 
are  furnished  with  a  water-closet,  water  and  gas,  means  of  bathing, 
and  meals  are  served  in  the  rooms  without  extra  charge. 

The  prisoners  are  compelled  to  do  their  own  laundry  work, 
that  is  so  far  as  their  own  clothes  are  concerned.  They  are 
allowed  to  have  their  own  under-clothes,  providing  they  take  care 
of  them  themselves. 

Q. — How  do  you  instruct  them  in  their  work? 

A. — The  officers  do  the  instructing.  In  a  block  where  shoe- 
making  is  carried  on,  all  the  officers  are  practical  shoemakers. 
They  give  each  man  his  work  and  instruct  him  how  to  do  it,  see 
that  it  is  properly  done,  and  return  it  to  the  superintendent  who 
has  charge  of  the  department.  All  the  prisoner  requires  is  furn- 
ished by  the  officer,  and  what  he  is  entitled  to  have  is  supplied  him 
immediately. 

Q. — Does  the  prisoner  ever  step  outside  of  his  room? 

A. — There  is  a  yard  attached  to  each  room  on  the  ground 
floor,  where  he  is  let  out  to  exercise  every  day. 

Q. — The  yard  is  simply  a  cell  without  a  roof  to  it? 

A. — Yes;  a  ten-acre  lot  would,  under  the  circumstances,  be  a 
cell  without  a  roof  to  it. 

Q. — How  many  cells  have  you? 

A. — Seven  hundred  and  thirty. 

Q. — And  how  many  prisoners? 

A. — One  thousand  and  fifty-six. 

Q. — Then  the  solitary  system  is  not  fully  carried  out? 

A. — No,  not  fully,  on  account  of  lack  of  rooms. 

Q. — How  near  together  are  the  cell  yards?  Could  a  prisoner 
throw  a  note  over  the  walls? 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  77 

A. — Certainly;  you  can  throw  a  note  over  a  fence  forty  or  fifty 
feet  away.  It  is  all  nonsense  to  think  you  can  make  a  prison  that 
cannot  be  overcome  by  the  people  occupying  it.  Supervision  is 
the  only  thing  that  can  keep  prisoners  in  order.  Fences  can  be 
scaled,  and  the  locks  on  banks  do  not  prevent  people  breaking  in; 
it  is  the  supervision  that  does  it,  and  we  claim  to  have  careful 
supervision  in  the  prison.  There  are  men  who  can  get  out  of  any 
prison  if  they  have  the  opportunity;  and  there  is  nothing  that  can 
be  put  up  by  any  man  that  some  other  man  cannot  put  down. 
What  keeps  convicts  in  check  is  supervision. 

Q. — How  are  the  Sunday  exercises  concjucted? 

A. — By  the  doors  of  the  cells  being  opened.  The  prisoners 
do  not  see  each  other.  We  have  ten  corridors  and  ten  preachers 
going  at  once,  and  if  salvation  cannot  be  reached  by  means  of  ten 
preachers,  it  cannot  be  reached  at  all. 

Q. — Do  you  consider  preaching  a  means  of  discipline  in  your 
prison? 

A. — It  is  not  an  infliction. 

Q. — Are  the  preachers  under  pay? 

A. — No,  sir;  they  are  not  under  pay.  One  has  charge  of  the 
library  and  all  the  educational  matters  attached  to  it.  There  is  no 
other  prison  in  the  world  like  ours,  and  gentlemen  who  have  not 
seen  it  do  not  understand  it.  Each  cell  building  is  separate. 
There  is  no  loft  or  pigeon-holes  to  put  fellows  in.  There  are  100 
cells  in  one  corridor,  and  136  in  another  that  may  be  alongside  of 
it.  The  building  is  octagon,  and  the  cell  buildings  radiate  from  it. 
Anything  occurring  in  one  building  will  not  be  seen  or  heard  in 
another.  Four  of  the  corridors  are  two  stories  high,  which  is  a 
mistake.  There  is  no  reason  why  they  should  go  higher.  We 
are  free  from  the  danger  of  epidemics,  each  man  being  treated  in 
his  own  cell.  There  are  peculiarities  about  the  instruction,  man- 
agement, and  detail  of  a  separate  prison  that  cannot  be  properly 
explained  on  an  occasion  of  this  kind. 

I  would  like  to  have  every  one  here,  should  he  ever  pass 
through  Philadelphia,  visit  and  inspect  the  Eastern  Penitentiary. 
I  think  the  separate  system  is  the  only  philosophical  method  of 
treating  people.  People  are  not  made  alike,  and  they  cannot  be 
treated  alike.  I  might  as  well  take  an  educated  man  and  give  him 
a  spelling  book,  and  tell  him  that  was  fit  reading  matter  for  him, 
or  take  an  illiterate  man  and  give  him  Shakespeare,  and  tell  him 


78  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

that  is  the  kind  of  literature  he  should  have.  Individual  tastes  and 
habits  have  to  be  looked  into  in  reformatory  as  well  as  in  other 
work. 

Q. — Does  not  solitary  confinement  affect  the  health  of 
prisoners? 

A. — They  go  out  enjoying  better  health  than  when  they  came 
in. 

Q. — But  how  in  regard  to  those  who  do  not  go  out? 

A. — Those  who  do  not  go  out  have  better  health.  I  may 
state  further,  in  answer  to  this  question,  that  our  prisoners  do  not 
"go"  out, — they  are  "let"  out  when  their  time  expires. 

Q. — What  is  your  death-rate? 

A. — Our  death-rate  this  year  has  been  about  sixteen  in  1600. 

Q. — Are  your  men  pardoned  out  to  prevent  them  from  dying 
in  prison? 

A. — No,  sir;  there  have  been  cases  of  that  kind,  but  very 
rarely.  It  has  been  held  that  the  sickness  of  a  prisoner  is  no 
condition  for  his  pardon. 

Q. — What  is  your  insanity-rate? 

A. — About  the  same  average  as  other  prisons.  I  have  fifty 
insane  people  now. 

Q. — Several  years  ago  there  was  a  comparison  made  of  the 
percentage  of  insanity  in  the  Massachusetts  prison  and  in  yours, 
and  the  report  was  against  the  Massachusetts  prison? 

A. — Yes,  sir;  that  is  correct.  There  is  no  ground  for  the 
charge  that  the  separate  system  produces  insanity;  that  idea  was 
exploded  long  ago.  No  one  is  removed  from  our  prison  because 
he  is  insane.  Of  the  fifty  insane  persons  now  there,  five  have 
developed  insanity  since  their  admission;  the  other  forty-five  were 
tainted  long  before  they  came.  They  are  the  source  of  a  great 
deal  of  trouble,  but  I  am  not  prepared  to  say  that  I  am  not  able  to 
take  care  of  insane  people  as  well  as  any  others,  and  I  must  say 
that  before  I  can  get  them  removed  many  of  them  are  safer  with 
me  and  less  dangerous  to  their  associates  than  they  would  be  in 
any  insane  asylum.  The  overseers  are  responsible  people.  They 
have  been  subjected  to  a  training  that  renders  them  equal  to  any 
business  connected  with  the  institution.  After  they  have  served 
five  years  they  receive  a  salary  of  $900,  which  is  equivalent  to  a 
capital  of  $15,000  invested  at  six  per  cent.  They  have  great  care 
for  that  capital,  and  are  anxious  to  retain  their  situations;  and  the 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  79 

only  way  to  retain  them  is  by  fidelity  to  the  service.  They  are 
fully  aware  of  that,  and  at  no  time  is  there  any  danger  of  a  break- 
down in  consequence  of  a  warden  dying  or  a  keeper  getting  killed. 
The  work  will  go  along  just  the  same.  When  I  am  away  I  leave 
the  prison  in  charge  of  a  chief  officer,  whom  I  designate,  and  all 
orders  are  obeyed  just  as  if  I  were  there  myself.  We  have  thirty- 
two  officers  altogether. 

Q. — You  have  no  free  men  employed? 

A. — No,  sir;  no  one  is  engaged  in  the  prison  in  any  way,  or 
in  any  capacity,  other  than  those  employed  by  the  State.  There 
has  never  been  a  contract  made  for  anything  since  the  corner- 
stone was  laid. 

Q. — Do  you  have  many  armed  guards? 

A. — The  night  watchmen  who  patrol  the  wards  have 
revolvers.  There  are  no  other  firearms  on  the  ground,  and  no 
officer  is  allowed  to  carry  them.  There  is  no  necessity  for  force 
under  our  system.  The  instructors  in  labor  go  into  the  cells  alone 
and  instruct  the  prisoners. 

Q. — How  many  persons  does  the  prisoner  see? 

A. — He  sees  the  officers,  the  moral  instructor,  and  the  warden 
at  least  every  two  weeks.  The  law  is  that  the  warden  shall  see 
every  prisoner  in  his  charge  every  day,  but  that  could  not  be;  I 
see  them  every  two  weeks.  The  acting  committee  for  the  Society 
for  the  Alleviation  of  the  Miseries  of  Public  Prisoners  come  in 
every  once  in  a  while  to  see  the  prisoners. 

Q. — Have  you  a  uniform? 

A. — We  have  no  uniform.  We  make  the  goods  we  use  in  our 
own  looms.  W~e  are  not  particular  about  the  color. 

Q. — How  do  you  get  dinner  into  the  cells? 

A. — Just  the  same  as  a  waiter  would  hand  it  in  at  the  door  of 
a  room  in  a  hotel.  The  food  is  prepared  by  convict  labor;  we 
employ  no  one  outside  the  prison.  There  are  many  peculiarities 
about  this  system  that  I  cannot  explain  unless  I  am  questioned  a 
great  deal.  So  far  as  its  being  a  success  in  the  treatment  of 
individuals  is  concerned,  that  is  beyond  question;  there  is  no  doubt 
about  that  now.  Writers,  however,  will  refer  to  the  old  prejudices 
against  it.  De  Tocqueville  wrote  about  it.  When  Dickens  came 
to  this  country  he  visited  the  prison,  and  on  his  return  he  wrote 
very  damaging  things  about  it,  as  he  did  about  everything  relating 
to  this  country  which  he  described.  He  wrote  a  pathetic  story 


8O  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

about  a  Dutchman  who  had  been  sentenced  for  five  years,  and 
who  had  asked  him,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  if  he.  could  live  the 
sentence  out.  That  was  forty-two  years  ago,  and  yet  it  was  only 
last  year  that  Charles  Langheimer,  Dickens's  Dutchman,  died; 
and  he  had  been  fourteen  times  in  the  prison  since  Dickens  saw 
him,  and  did  not  die  but  once, — and  that  was  the  last  time.  He 
died  in  prison.  He  came  there  the  last  time  a  sick,  broken-down 
old  man.  He  would  not  go  to  the  workhouse,  and  asked  me  to 
take  him  in.  I  took  him  in,  and  he  remained  until  he  died. 

Q. — Do  you  give  your  prisoners  any  holidays? 

A. — Our  prisoners  have  holidays,  but  no  excursions.  They 
generally  work  on  the  regular  holidays,  and  do  more  work  than 
they  do  on  other  days,  and  on  those  days  they  are  not  charged  for 
their  keep.  Last  year  very  little  short  of  $10,000  was  paid  to  the 
families  of  prisoners  as  their  share  of  the  earnings.  A  man's  wife 
comes  to  see  him,  as  a  rule,  once  in  three  months.  She  may  have 
two  or  three  children  and  no  means  of  supporting  them  except  by 
what  she  can  earn.  She  gets  five  or  six  dollars  when  she  comes 
to  see  her  husband;  and  if  work  is  plenty,  she  conies  before  the 
time  is  out,  and  may  get  three  or  four  dollars,  which  is  a  great 
deal  to  a  person  who  has  nothing.  That,  at  any  rate,  would  be 
the  sentimental  view  of  it.  This  plan,  however,  enables  the 
prisoner  to  keep  his  family  together,  and  have  a  place  to  go  to 
when  he  is  discharged. 

Q. — Have  your  prisoners  absolute  control  of  that  money? 

A. — No,  sir;  but  they  can  give  it  to  their  families.  They  can 
purchase  certain  things  which  they  are  allowed  to  have  with  it. 
We  allow  them  tobacco  and  pipes,  but  not  cigars.  They  sub- 
scribe for  the  papers  of  their  counties  and  the  literary  papers.  It 
would  not  do  to  admit  all  the  papers  of  the  country,  for  it  would 
create  a  good  deal  of  confusion,  cause  an  amount  of  work,  and  do 
no  possible  good.  Some  papers  are  selected  that  they  are  allowed 
to  subscribe  for,  such  as  the  New  York  Herald,  Philadelphia 
Weekly  Press,  and  Weekly  Times. 

Q. — Do  you  clip  the  papers  before  giving  them  to  the 
prisoners? 

A. — No,  sir;  that  would  be  useless,  because  they  would  get 
the  news  from  their  county  papers,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  no  great 
consequence. 

Q. — Do  you  supervise  their  correspondence? 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  8l 

A. — Yes,  sir;  the  correspondence  is  supervised  throughout. 
They  write  once  in  four  weeks,  and  are  allowed  to  receive  all 
proper  letters  that  come  for  them. 

Prison  Labor. 

FROM  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1888. 

In  some  instances,  labor  is  awarded  as  part  of  the  penalty; 
hard  labor,  as  the  sentence  in  many  cases  reads,  was,  by  the  jurists 
who  framed  the  laws,  no  doubt  intended  as  a  punishment  to  the  in- 
dividual so  sentenced  for  the  crime  he  had  been  convicted  of. 
Labor  may  be  a  penalty,  and  it  is  the  part  of  the  sentence  which  is 
most  cheerfully  complied  with,  and  paid  without  grumbling,  and  is 
in  no  sense  regarded  by  inmates  of  prisons  as  a  punishment. 

Labor  performed  by  honest  persons  in  the  community  is  con- 
sidered a  duty.  The  maintenance  of  families  and  most  of  the 
pleasures  and  enjoyments  of  life  depend  on  labor  and  its  products. 

Industry  is  the  surest  prevention  of  crime.  To  teach  habits  of 
industry,  promote  education  of  labor,  debar  idleness  in  the  habits 
of  young  first  offenders,  will  do  much  toward  preventing  them  fall- 
ing into  the  crime-class. 

Hand-made  articles,  shaped  and  fashioned  with  hand  tools, 
without  the  aid  of  power  machinery,  is  the  most  intelligent  method 
of  employing  prisoners  for  their  future  benefit,  besides  giving 
them  that  physical  exertion  necessary  to  their  condition  of  health. 

The  amount  of  production  of  articles  made  in  all  the  prisons 
of  the  United  States  by  prisoners  alone,  without  the  aid  of  ma- 
chines and  contractors,  and  their  numerous  employes  who  are  not 
connected  with  the  prison  in  any  official  capacity,  would  have  no 
more  visible  effect  on  the  general  industries  of  the  country  than  a 
shower  of  rain  would  have  on  the  volume  of  water  in  Lake  Michi- 
gan. 

Prison  Labor. 

FROM  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1881. 

We  teach  trades  not  as  a  punishment  but  as  an  incentive  to 
reform,  and  to  give  the  idea  to  the  prisoner  that  an  honest  life  is 
best  secured  by  industry.  That  is  my  view  of  labor,  in  prisons  and 
everywhere. 


82  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

Most  of  those  who  have  come  to  prison  claiming  to  have  a 
knowledge  of  some  handicraft  or  trade  are  those  who  have  spent 
but  a  few  months,  or  at  most  but  a  year  or  two,  at  their  business, 
but  have  never  pursued  it  as  a  settled  means  of  living. 

Among  rewards  for  good  conduct  are  a  reduction  of  term  of 
sentence,  and  the  privilege  of  making  overwork. 

The  money  thus  made  is  paid  to  the  prisoner  on  his  discharge, 
or  to  his  family  during  his  imprisonment,  or  it  may  be  expended 
in  such  articles  as  the  rules  of  the  institution  will  admit,  excluding 
everything  in  the  nature  of  provisions;  the  law  of  the  State  being 
that  no  prisoner  shall  receive  anything  but  the  prison  allowance, 
which  has  always  been  rigidly  adhered  to. 

But,  at  the  same  time,  good  conduct  and  industrious  habits 
are  not  always  a  reliable  indication  of  the  moral  status  of  a  pris- 
oner; for,  as  a  general  rule,  we  find  that  "professional"  men,  as 
they  are  termed,  are  among  the  best  behaved  and  not  unfre- 
quently  the  most  industrious,  not  from  an  honest  love  of  industry, 
but  because  constant  employment  is  found  to  be  the  best  means  to 
obey  rules  and  for  preserving  their  health. 

In  the  maintenance  of  good  order  and  discipline,  and,  indeed, 
in  everything  that  pertains  to  the  well-being  of  the  prisoners,  much 
depends  upon  the  overseers,  and  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  acknowl- 
edge the  uniform  disposition  evinced  by  those  connected  with  the 
institution  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  promote  these  most  desirable 
objects. 

FROM  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1887. 

Industrial  mechanical  training,  without  the  aid  of  any  artifi- 
cial power  other  than  the  physical  force  of  the  individual,  educates 
both  the  mental  and  physical  faculties,  keeping  the  mind  constantly 
active  in  guiding  the  hand  that  fashions  the  articles  being  pro- 
duced. By  this  constant  occupation  the  time  appears  to  pass  more 
rapidly,  giving  the  worker  that  cheerful  feeling  of  contentment  that 
remunerative  labor  produces.  When  the  worker  has  a  share  of 
the  production  of  his  head  and  hands,  he  feels  an  independence 
and  a  self-sustaining  power  within  himself  that  enables  him  to  con- 
template his  future  without  fear  of  being  dependent  on  charity  or 
to  the  violation  of  law  in  order  to  subsist.  Many  of  the  discharged 
prisoners  have  money  due  them  from  overwork,  which  enables 
them  to  present  a  respectable  appearance,  and  greatly  facilitates 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  83 

them  in  getting  employment  in  the  line  of  their  knowledge  of  work 
acquired  while  in  this  institution.  That  all  who  come  to  prison  do 
not  avail  themselves  of  the  opportunities  presented  to  change  their 
former  way  of  living,  is  true.  There  are  many  such,  from  many 
causes,  that  are  not  capable  of  being  changed  in  their  ways  by  any 
methods  of  teaching  or  direction  by  others.  Education  may  be  set 
down  as  one  of  the  reasons  why  they  do  not  alter  their  mode  of 
living,  being  associated  from  birth  with  vice  and  immorality,  with 
only  the  teaching  and  example  of  parents  who  were  educated  in 
the  same  sort  of  environment.  Most  of  the  hereditary  crime-class 
people  have  schoolmasters'  and  book-learning,  which  by  many 
who  are  engaged  in  the  care  of  this  class  consider  as  quite  sufficient 
means  to  prevent  crime  and  to  reclaim  criminals. 

Prison  Labor* 

NATIONAL  PRISON  ASSOCIATION,  HELD  AT  ATLANTA,  GA., 
NOVEMBER,  1886. 

Upon  the  subject  of  Prison  Labor  Mr.  Cassidy  spoke  as  fol- 
lows: 

There  is  no  difficulty  about  the  system  of  individual  treatment 
and  work,  and  everything  else,  conducted  as  it  is  in  the  Eastern 
Penitentiary.  It  is  the  only  public  account  system  which  there  is 
in  this  country.  There  never  was  a  contract  made,  from  the  time 
the  corner-stone  was  laid.  We  don't  like  contractors;  they  are 
dangerous  people  to  have  around;  they  are  always  looking  for  per- 
centages and  "divvies."  There  are  some  reasons  why  intelligent 
industries  are  essential  in  any  prison  labor  that  requires  both  brain 
and  muscle.  The  machinery  labor  of  prisons  is  only  an  adjunct  to 
the  contractor,  in  order  to  produce  largely.  There  is  no  intelli- 
gence connected  with  a  machine,  after  it  has  left  the  hands  of  the 
man  who  invented  it;  it  does  not  require  any  intelligence  on  the 
part  of  the  operator.  If  prisoners  are  educated  to  labor  with  their 
hands  and  their  heads,  and  are  given  the  use  of  tools,  and  are  al- 
lowed to  go  out  in  the  community  and  take  part  with  all  other  peo- 
ple who  are  laboring  with  the  use  of  tools,  very  many  of  them  do 
not  come  back  to  prison,  for  that  very  reason.  The  difficulty  in 
managing  so  many  people,  and  so  many  different  industries,  is  not 
so  great  as  it  seems  to  those  who  do  not  know,  or  have  had  no 


84  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS. 

experience  in  that  way.  Material  can  be  purchased  just  as  cheap 
by  one  man  as  another,  if  he  has  got  the  money  to  pay  for  it. 
Goods  manufactured  or  made  by  hand  are  a  better  article,  and  on 
the  market  command  more  money  than  machine  goods,  and  do 
not  interfere  with  honest  industry.  Many  men  have  large  fac- 
tories, purchase  materials,  manufacture  goods,  and  put  them  on 
the  market;  and  there  is  no  reason  why  the  State  cannot  employ 
suitable  people  for  that  purpose.  I  have  plenty  of  time;  I  do  not 
have  half  enough  to  do.  I  am  complained  of,  because  I  am  idle 
most  of  the  time.  It  is  no  great  exercise  to  send  out  a  wagon 
loaded  with  goods,  to  have  a  man  haul  it  out,  send  a  bill  for  the 
goods,  and  get  the  money  back.  It  doesn't  require  any  great 
amount  of  labor  to  do  that,  nor  much  brains.  I  send  goods  all 
over  the  country.  The  best  women's  shoes  in  this  town  to-day 
are  made  in  our  prison ;  nobody  complains  of  them ;  they  do  not  in- 
terfere with  trade.  If  Warden  McClaughry  will  only  consider  how 
easy  it  would  be  to  control  this  matter  himself,  he  would  never 
have  a  contractor  come  near  his  place  if  he  could  help  it.  You 
cannot  make  large  returns ;  prisoners  should  not  be  made  use  of  in 
that  way.  The  best  interest  of  the  individual  and  of  the  prison, 
and  the  interest  of  the  community  outside,  should  be  considered. 
When  you  do  that,  you  do  all  that  can  be  done  for  the  prisoner  and 
society. 

We  make  women's  and  men's  shoes  very  largely.  They  are 
all  made  by  hand-labor.  There  is  not  a  particle  of  power  machin- 
ery in  the  place.  We  have  one  little  engine  there,  for  pumping 
water  out  of  a  well  into  the  reservoir;  that  is  all  the  power  we  have 
ever  had.  We  made  mats  until  the  market  for  hand-made  mats 
was  destroyed  by  the  cheaper  machine-made  in  other  prisons.  We 
make  cigars,  cane-seat  chairs,  and  hosiery;  we  use  knitting  ma- 
chines, operated  by  hand,  for  manufacturing  the  hosiery. 

WARDEN'S  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1895. 

.  To  find  labor  for  convicts  is  a  question  that  has  puzzled  prison 
authorities  for  years.  The  great  objection  of  the  community  to 
have  convict-made  articles  placed  on  the  open  market  cripples  any 
industry  that  may  be  introduced  into  prisons. 

The  political  economist  contends  that  the  inmates  of  prisons 
should  be  self-supporting,  which  is  a  very  just  proposition.  They 
do  not  indicate  or  suggest  any  method  by  which  the  desired  end 
can  be  reached. 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS.  85 

The  large  mass  of  the  community,  producers  and  consumers, 
also  the  transfer  agents  of  production,  which  are  known  as  business 
men,  say  that  convict-made  articles  should  not  have  equal  stand- 
ing in  the  general  market. 

Laws  have  been  enacted  by  the  proper  State  authority  indors- 
ing this  view  and  prohibiting  the  sale  of  such  products  on  equal 
terms.  Commission  men  will  not  handle  nor  will  traveling  sales- 
men carry  them,  consequently  the  avenues  for  disposing  of  prison- 
made  articles  are  practically  closed  under  existing  statutory  re- 
strictions. The  remedy  or  relief  for  such  a  condition  has  not  yet 
been  found. 

TESTIMONY  BEFORE  LEGISLATIVE  INVESTIGATING  COMMITTEE, 

MAY  13,  1897. 

Q. — How  much  employment  is  given  a  prisoner  daily? 

A. — About  the  ordinary  amount  that  a  man  would  do  outside 
in  four  hours,  when  we  have  work  for  them.  We  haven't  the  work 
to  keep  them  employed.  We  cannot  get  it. 

Q._Why? 

A. — Trade  is  very  dull  now,  and  we  have  to  go  to  a  far-off 
market  to  sell  the  goods.  We  cannot  sell  them  in  Pennsylvania  in 
consequence  of  the  labor  law. 

Q. — What  is  your  opinion  of  the  effect  upon  the  men,  from 
keeping  them  employed  more  or  less  during  the  day? 

A. — Employment  is  the  best  physical  treatment  you  can  give 
the  men. 

Q. — Has  it  not  been  apparent  to  you,  from  your  observations, 
that  if  the  men  are  not  employed  their  condition  deteriorates,  both 
mentally  and  physically? 

A. — I  am  not  settled  on  that  point.  A  great  many  of  these 
people  will  not  take  any  employment  at  all;  they  never  did  any 
work,  but  have  subsisted  on  what  other  people  earned.  Idleness 
does  not  hurt  them  a  bit,  they  grow  fat  on  it. 

Q. — Is  that  the  experience  you  have  had  with  the  majority  of 
e  inmates? 

A. — Yes,  the  only  way  they  will  work  is  by  being  paid  for 
doing  it,  that  is  the  only  way  they  will  work  industriously.  Then 
if  there  is  no  overwork  on  hand  they  will  do  their  task  slowly  and 
always  keep  below  the  mark;  but  if  you  hold  out  the  prospect  of 


,„ 


86  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS. 

overwork,  they  will  do  their  tasks,  so  as  to  do  the  overwork.  They 
will  be  industrious  in  order  to  get  a  little  money. 

Q. — Would  it  not  be  better  for  the  State  to  submit  to  some  lit- 
tle loss,  rather  than  keep  the  inmates  of  this  institution  in  idleness? 

A. — No,  I  don't  think  the  State  can  afford  to  lose  money  for 
any  such  reason.  If  you  can  get  a  new  dollar  for  an  old  one,  it  is 
all  right,  but  you  cannot  satisfactorily  explain  a  loss. 

Q. — Then  the  State  would  lose  less  money  by  merely  provid- 
ing for  their  support  than  it  would  by  having  them  employed  in 
manufacturing  operations  which  did  not  realize  a  profit? 

A. — Yes,  it  would  lose  money  very  fast  in  the  manufacturing 
business  if  it  did  not  get  back  a  dollar  for  every  one  it  invested. 

Q. — Have  you  up  to  the  present  time  been  able  to  get  a  new 
dollar  for  an  old  one? 

A. — Always.     I  have  very  seldom  taken  the  risk  of  a  loss. 

Convict  Contract  Labor  and  Convict  Earnings. 

AT  THE  MEETING  OF  THE  NATIONAL  PRISON  ASSOCIATION  IN 
NEW  YORK  IN  1883. 

When  this  question  was  under  discussion,  the  president  of  the 
association  requested  Mr.  Cassidy  to  give  his  views.  In  compli- 
ance with  this  request,  he  said : 

It  was  decided  positively  this  morning  that  labor  was  essential 
in  all  prison  management.  It  is  also  essential  to  the  welfare  of 
every  community.  All  the  greatness  and  all  the  wealth  of  every 
city  is  produced  by  its  labor.  It  is  a  great  mistake  in  the  jurists  to 
make  labor  a  penalty  for  crime,  making  labor  offensive  by  degrad- 
ing it  in  that  way.  Labor  as  a  punishment  and  labor  as  a  duty  are 
two  different  things.  In  a  prison,  labor  should  not  be  used  as  a 
punishment,  except  in  its  application  to  the  individual.  There  are 
many  individuals  that  labor  would  be  irksome  to.  There  are  quite 
a  great  many  that  labor  is  a  blessing  to.  Labor  in  a  prison  is  only 
a  punishment  so  far  as  it  is  applicable  to  the  individual.  Regard- 
less of  any  profit  that  may  be  derived  from  the  product  of  the  labor, 
it  is  of  vast  importance  that  it  should  be  used  as  an  auxiliary  in  the 
treatment  of  the  individual. 

In  the  community,  the  laborer — I  don't  care  how  hard  the 
labor  is,  if  he  is  carrying  bricks  and  mortar  to  the  top  of  a  building, 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS.  87 

he  does  it  cheerfully.  When  the  building  is  done  and  the  boss  tells 
him  he  has  no  more  work,  he  doesn't  rejoice  at  that^as  being  re- 
lieved of  a  punishment,  but  he  goes  and  seeks  labor  elsewhere. 
The  severest  punishment  we  have  in  our  prison  is  depriving  the 
individual  of  labor.  In  the  rarest  cases,  where  prisoners  will  refuse 
to  work,  they  are  generally  not  level-headed  entirely;  there  is 
something  lacking  about  them;  want  of  capacity  to  do  work  some- 
times. It  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  things  to  get  the  kind  of  labor 
that  you  can  adapt  to  the  people  that  you  have.  All  the  mechani- 
cal trades  require  a  training.  The  way  that  labor  is  applied  in  our 
prison  is  to  teach  them  some  kind  of  occupation,  and  it  requires 
time,  and  some  have  not  the  capacity  for  it.  There  are  many  peo- 
ple whom  we  try  to  make  shoemakers  of,  and  we  find  that  they 
cannot  do  the  work.  Then  we  have  to  try  them  on  some  other 
grade  of  labor  that  we  have,  such  as  putting  bottoms  in  cane 
chairs,  which  is  simple.  The  profit  derived  from  it  is  the  second- 
ary consideration  to  the  treatment  of  the  individual.  That  the 
trade  should  be  of  use  to  the  individuals  after  they  leave  prison  is 
of  more  importance  than  the  profits  while  they  are  there. 

I  do  not  know  what  percentage  of  our  men  make  use  of  their 
trades  after  they  leave  prison,  because  we  cannot  ascertain  what 
they  do  or  where  they  go.  There  are  many  I  know  in  our  own  city 
who  are  following  occupations  that  they  learned  in  our  prison.  Two 
men  who  learned  their  trade  in  prison,  I  know,  are  carrying  on  the 
shoe-making  business  quite  successfully,  and  are  good,  reputable 
citizens.  We  have  no  machinery.  Machinery  is  no  part  of  the 
learning  of  a  trade.  They  sit  down  to  work,  and  learn  a  trade  in 
the  old-fashioned  way,  out  and  out,  each  one.  That  requires  time, 
and  a  loss  of  time  while  they  are  doing  it.  By  the  aid  of  machin- 
ery, in  partnership  with  the  manufacturer,  you  can  convert  your 
prison  into  a  manufactory  and  have  profitable  results,  I  will  admit. 

The  prisoners  earn,  on  an  average,  about  twelve  cents  a  day, 
and  the  cost  of  maintenance,  including  all  expenses,  is  about  thirty- 
eight  cents  a  day. 

The  trades  that  are  most  popular  rarely  get  to  prison.  Out 
of  our  whole  population  of  1080  I  believe  there  are  but  twelve  men 
who  have  been  trained  to  a  mechanical  business.  Many  of  them 
have  worked  at  trades  in  other  prisons;  some  have  worked  part  of 
the  time  and  turned  to  vagabondism  the  other  part.  But  of  men 
who  have  been  trained  to  business  regularly  as  they  were  before 


88  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

the  apprenticeship  system  was  abolished, — shoemakers,  carpenters, 
or  machinists, — we  have  but  twelve.  The  best  mechanics  become 
dissipated,  get  into  houses  of  correction,  sell  everything  they  have, 
their  tools  and  their  clothes,  go  down  to  the  lowest  grade  that  hu- 
manity can  come  to,  and  then  they  brace  up  and  go  to  work. 
They  rarely  get  to  the  crime-class.  When  we  have  a  man  who 
can  do  good  work  in  the  crime-class,  he  has  learned  it  in  other 
prisons;  whether  it  is  cabinet-making  or  shoemaking,  or  any  other 
work  that  is  done,  there  is  something  about  it  that  doesn't  look 
like  work  turned  out  by  a  regular  mechanic  in  the  community;  it 
has  a  prison  look  about  it  which  a  prison  man  who  understands  it 
will  notice. 

I  am  opposed  to  every  form  of  congregating  people  in  the 
crime-class.  *  *  *  The  plan  Mr.  Brockway  spoke  of — he  calls 
it  the  piece-price  plan — we  have  used  in  the  cotton-goods  indus- 
tries. It  worked  for  a  while  and  then  failed. 

Our  prisoners  earn  about  $40,000  a  year,  and  $10,000  fox 
themselves.  Last  year  their  overwork  was  about  $10,000  in 
round  figures,  and  that  they  dispose  of  as  they  think  proper.  Any- 
thing that  will  make  the  tie  stronger  between  the  prisoner  and  his 
family,  and  keep  a  place  for  him  to  go  to  when  he  goes  out,  is  most 
beneficial. 

We  cane-seat  chairs,  employing  as  many  as  two  hundred  peo- 
ple generally,  and  just  in  accordance  as  the  supply  and  demand 
require  it.  We  manufacture  chairs  entirely  out  of  the  raw  plank; 
we  buy  the  lumber.  That  is  an  industry  that  requires  some  time 
to  learn  and  some  skill.  We  buy  our  own  materials.  We  never 
had  a  contract  since  the  corner-stone  was  laid  for  anything,  pro- 
visions, supplies,  material,  labor,  or  in  any  way. 

We  do  the  best  we  can, — purchase  the  material  and  manufac- 
ture the  goods.  The  goods  we  make  are  better  standard,  gener- 
ally, than  the  same  grade  of  goods  in  the  market, — all  hand-made ; 
and  we  get  a  little  more  for  shoes  than  the  manufactory  shoes 
bring.  We  have  a  hundred  men  making  cigars;  the  largest 
amount  is  of  cheap-grade  cigars, — some  fine  ones.  Once  in  a 
while  we  get  a  regular  cigarmaker. 

The  largest  amount  of  individual  daily  earnings  is  over 
seventy-five  cents.  The  prisoner,  for  instance,  is  working  at  shoe- 
making,  makes  one  pair  and  a  half  of  shoes  per  day,  at  twenty 
cents  a  pair;  that  is  thirty  cents.  Of  all  he  makes  over  that  half  is 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS.  89 

credited  to  him  and  the  other  half  to  the  county  from  which  he 
came,  at  the  same  rates.  Some  will  make  five,  six,  seven  pairs  of 
shoes  a  day.  Then  the  same  with  cigars.  They  make  150  cigars; 
that  amounts  to  thirty  cents,  and  all  over  that  they  get  the  same 
price  for.  The  money  they  can  give  to  their  families  or  reserve  it 
all  until  they  go  out.  I  have  known  men  on  a  five  years'  sentence 
to  accumulate  $250  to  $300.  They  work  early  and  work  late  there. 
We  have  no  particular  hours  for  work.  They  can  work  all  the 
time  they  choose, — use  their  own  time  about  doing  it,  eat  their 
meals  when  they  choose,  read  when  they  choose,  between  daylight 
and  niae  o'clock  at  night.  Some  industrious  men  will  work  all 
the  time  in  order  to  get  some  money  for  their  families.  If  a  poor 
woman  who  has  children  and  house  rent  to  pay  can  get  five  or 
six  dollars  on  the  order  of  the  prisoner,  it  makes  a  great  deal  for 
her  and  it  keeps  a  home  for  the  prisoner  when  he  comes  out. 

At  this  point  the  members  of  the  Prison  Association  sub- 
mitted numerous  questions,  which  are  given  with  the  answers  by 
Mr.  Cassidy. 

Q. — What  per  cent,  of  your  inmates  are  recommitted  to  your 
prison? 

A. — I  cannot  give  the  percentage  now.  The  recommitments 
are  more  than  we  desire.  We  keep  a  record  of  them  and  get  them 
all,  beyond  any  question. 

Q. — What  is  the  largest  amount  any  prisoner  ever  earned? 

A. — I  paid  a  man  that  went  out  last  Sunday  $400,  on  a  seven 
years'  sentence. 

Q. — Do  you  think  that  would  act  as  an  inducement  to  commit 
crime  again? 

A. — On  the  contrary,  it  gives  them  an  opportunity  to  get  away 
and  into  some  business.  They  can  find  employment  without  re- 
sorting to  their  old  associates. 

Q. — What  is  the  expense  per  day  of  feeding  your  prisoners? 

A. — About  ten  cents.  Those  who  have  earned  money  rarely 
come  back.  There  is  no  greater  incentive  in  life  than  what  can 
be  gained  by  honest  industry,  and  every  one  in  a  community  is  in 
duty  bound  to  do  all  that  he  can  in  whatever  business  he  is 
engaged.  The  man  that  can  do  the  most  work  ought  to  do  the 
most  work  always,  and  when  you  give  him  an  opportunity  in  work- 
ing for  himself  he  will  do  all  that  he  can.  In  many  cases  certain 
men  can  do  three  times  as  much  as  those  who  are  beside  them 


gO  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS. 

without  any  effort  at  all.  The  State  assumes  control  of  the  indi- 
vidual, and  I  do  not  think  that  it  is  fair  for  the  State  to  shove  any 
part  of  that  responsibility  on  the  irresponsible  contractors  who  are 
not  connected  with  the  State  government.  The  prisoners  ought 
to  be  managed  entirely  by  authority;  and  where  you  introduce 
outside  people  who  have  no  authority,  as  in  contract-labor  prisons, 
where  the  contractors  themselves  are  responsible  to  no  one,  and 
have  no  authority  whatever,  even  if  it  is  beneficial  to  the  State  in 
a  remunerative  way,  it  is  not  the  best  thing  for  the  State  to  do. 
The  State  assumes  control  of  these  people  when  they  are  convicted, 
and  the  State  ought  to  continue  to  control  all  their  actions  while 
they  are  in  its  charge. 

As  far  as  the  prisoner  has  capacity  to  do  so,  he  ought  to  be 
obliged  to  support  himself,  and  so  far  as  the  demand  to  do  so  is 
applicable  to  the  individual.  Labor  is  not  a  punishment,  except 
in  its  application  to  the  individual.  If  you  are  benefiting  him  by 
fitting  him  to  be  a  better  citizen  when  he  regains  his  freedom,  you 
are  accomplishing  all  that  could  be  desired,  and  far  greater  benefit 
to  the  State  than  the  few  dollars  he  may  earn,  if  it  is  divided  be- 
tween the  State  and  an  irresponsible  person. 

Q. — How  are  you  going  to  determine  how  much  work  he 
shall  do? 

A. — By  studying  his  capacity. 

Q. — Some  men  won't  work  unless  you  compel  them? 

A. — They  are  few. 

Q. — It  is  also  possible  to  increase  a  man's  capacity  for  work 
by  thorough  training? 

A. — That  is  true;  yes.  In  working  for  so  much  apiece,  when 
he  increases  his  capacity  he  is  benefiting  himself.  Men  will  at 
first  think  it  is  an  impossibility  to  make  what  is  required  of  the 
general  class;  after  awhile  they  will  be  surprised  at  themselves  to 
see  how  much  they  can  do.  There  are  a  great  many  people  who 
go  to  prisons  who  have  no  capacity  for  anything,  not  from  any 
desire  to  avoid  doing  what  you  require  them  to  do;  but  we  try 
them  at  different  things,  and  they  have  no  capacity  for  doing  any- 
thing at  all. 

Q. — Would  you  compel  a  man  to  work  who  does  not  want  to? 

A. — I  would  try  that;  yes,  sir. 

Q. — Then,  in  his  case,  labor  becomes  a  punishment? 

A. — To  that  man,  yes. 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS.  9! 

Q. — Do  you  propose  to  divide  the  earnings  of  that  man  the 
same  as  with  a  man  who  does  his  work  willingly? 

A. — If  he  earns  it,  yes. 

Q. — Then  you  punish  him  and  make  him  pay  for  his  own 
punishment? 

A. — And  if  he  destroys  his  materials  we  make  him  pay  for 
them.  We  treat  him  precisely  as  we  would  a  mechanic  in  any 
private  business.  If  he  destroys  the  materials  or  tools  we  deduct 
it  from  his  wages;  that  is  done  in  all  business.  The  labor  of 
prisons  is  one  of  the  problems  that  is  agitating  the  people  of  New 
York  more,  I  suppose,  perhaps,  than  any  other  subject.  I  do  not 
know  practically  the  workings  of  the  contract-labor  system,  be- 
cause I  have  never  had  any  experience  in  it,  only  what  I  have  read 
and  seen. 

Q. — You  favor  a  public  account  as  against  the  contract  sys- 
tem? 

A. — Precisely.  The  State  ought  to  be  capable  of  managing 
its  own  affairs,  and  of  managing  every  department  that  belongs  io 
the  State;  it  presumes  to  do  that  in  all  other  departments  of  the 
State.  It  is  a  large  corporation,  and  it  should  be  entirely  responsi- 
ble to  its  people  for  what  it  does.  A  prison  management  can  be 
conducted  just  as  well  as  an  individual  management  anywhere  else. 

Q. — Then  the  argument  that  the  contract  system  is  good  be- 
cause it  requires  a  low  grade  of  capacity  in  administration  is  prac- 
tically against  it? 

A. — Yes.  A  large  manufacturing  interest  of  any  kind, — take 
Singer's  sewing-machine  concern,  or  any  other  similar  institution, 
— is  managed  by  individuals  trained  and  selected  for  the  purpose. 
There  is  no  reason  why  the  State  cannot  go  to  the  expense  of 
training  people  to  care  for  its  interests  just  as  well  as  a  corporation 
can.  The  way  it  is  at  our  prison,  the  warden  is  elected  every  six 
months;  if  he  is  a  bad  man  six  months  is  long  enough. 

Q. — You  have  been  there  how  many  years? 

A. — Twenty-five  years.  If  he  is  a  good  man  it  is  no  trou- 
ble to  re-elect  him.  The  State  cannot  be  at  any  disadvantage. 
*  *  *  The  State  can  be  responsible  for  all  its  people. 

Q. — How  many  men  do  you  work  in  your  prison  on  a  daily 
average  ? 

A. — Sometimes  we  have  800  or  900;  just  as  we  have  work  for 
them. 


92  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS. 

Q. — Do  you  have  a  daily  average  of  500? 

A. — Yes;  over  that. 

Q. — And  you  earn  $40,000? 

A.— Yes. 

Q. — Your  earnings  are  not  in  proportion  to  the  earnings  in 
the  cpntract-labor  system? 

A. — No,  sir;  and  they  cannot  be.  With  the  advantage  of 
machinery,  and  of  the  manufacturer  that  is  in  partnership  with  the 
machinery,  they  can  work  all  kinds  of  men. 

Q. — Can  you  refer  to  any  time  when  the  State  has  assumed 
all  this  management  and  has  made  a  success  of  it? 

A. — A  pecuniary  success?  Yes.  There  is  no  prison  popula- 
tion that  can  be  made  pecuniarily  a  success  to  any  great  extent, 
however.  It  may  be  made  in  prosperous  times  to  pay  expenses, 
if  it  is  located  just  where  there  is  a  particular  kind  of  labor  that 
they  can  do.  The  House  of  Correction  at  Allegheny  was  a  success 
financially,  owing  to  the  fact  that  it  was  opened  at  a  time,  and 
located  where  there  was  an  industry  in  active  demand, — oil  barrels. 
That  was  all  that  they  did;  if  the  oil  barrel  demand  should  stop, 
the  House  of  Correction  would  stop. 

Q. — What  is  the  difference  between  the  two  systems  of  prison 
labor  in  its  moral  effect  upon  the  prisoner? 

A. — To  begin  with,  the  contract  has  to  be  attended  to  by  the 
contractor  to  secure  his  personal  interest  in  it.  He  has  to  employ 
a  large  number  of  citizens,  who  go  in  and  associate  with  the  con- 
victs, and  which  has  not  a  good  moral  tendency. 

Q. — Wouldn't  you  have  to  do  this  under  any  system? 

A. — No,  sir;  there  is  no  such  necessity  when  the  prison  is 
managed  by  what  you  term  a  public-account  system.  You  can 
make  the  goods  for  so  much,  and  you  must  have  officers  capable  of 
directing  the  labor. 

Q. — Do  you  have  instructors? 

A. — Our  officers  are  the  instructors.  The  officers  are  trained 
to  their  business  in  the  beginning.  They  are  employed  in  the 
lower  grades  as  night  watchmen  or  as  mechanics  for  some  time  in 
the  general  branches  of  business.  We  select  some  one  from  these 
night  watchmen  to  fill  a  vacancy  that  may  occur  in  the  shoe  or 
chair-making  or  cane  departments.  The  officers  are  never 
changed  except  for  cause,  or  if  they  choose  to  quit,  but  that  is 
seldom.  There  is  no  one  from  the  outside  that  can  come  in. 


WARDEN    OASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  93 

There  is  no  prison  that  can  be  well  managed  in  any  way  where  any 
outsider  can  come  between  the  authority  and  the  prison.  A  prison 
government,  to  be  a  proper  government,  must  be  a  one-man  gov- 
ernment, and  no  outside  influence  can  come  in  between  the  officer 
and  the  people  he  has  charge  of,  only  in  a  general  supervisory 
way, — as  those  who  have  authority  to  visit;  but  everything  must 
go  through  one  man. 

Q. — If  the  Supervisory  board  interferes  it  does  not  harm? 

A. — That  is  very  different  from  others  who  visit  the  prison. 
All  matters  must  go  through  the  hands  of  the  overseer  who  has 
charge  of  the  prisoners,  in  order  to  give  the  understanding  that 
everything  received  must  be  received  directly  from  the  overseer, 
and  nothing  can  be  brought  in  by  any  one  else.  The  overseer  is 
held  responsible  for  the  people  in  his  charge. 

Q. — How  would  it  be  possible,  under  the  congregate  plan,  to 
work  the  men  in  prison  without  instructors? 

A. — The  State  can  employ  instructors  just  as  well  as  a  con- 
tractor can. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  say  that  the  Eastern  Penitentiary  has 
long  ceased  to  be  an  experiment.  It  has  been  in  operation  now 
fifty-four  years.  This  is  a  sufficiently  long  time  to  dispel  any  idea 
that  it  is  merely  an  experiment.  It  has  been  conducted  on  this 
plan  from  the  beginning. 


Insane  Prisoners* 

FROM  WARDEN'S  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1890. 

In  years  gone  past,  one  of  the  objections  made  to  the  cellular 
system,  as  it  was  then  called,  was,  it  was  likely  to  impair  the  mind 
of  the  persons  under  its  treatment.  That  theory  has  been  aban- 
doned long  since  for  want  of  facts.  There  are  insane  people  in  all 
prisons,  and  more  in  proportion  than  in  the  same  number  of  the 
community  at  large,  for  many  of  the  crimes  committed  are  such 
that  only  insane  persons  would  conceive. 

Many  of  the  reports  of  prisons  this  year  refer  to  the  care  of 
insane  criminals  and  the  proper  disposition  of  them  so  earnestly, 
that  insane  prisoners  are  found  in  many  of  the  congregate  prisons. 
Some  advocate  their  removal  to  insane  hospitals  when  the  disease 
is  po-sitively  developed;  others  advocate  the  construction  of 


94  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

separate  prisons  for  insane  criminals.  New  York  has  such  an 
institution.  A  separate  prison  for  insane  prisoners  would  be 
the  proper  disposition  of  that  class,  but  they  should  not  be  sent 
there  until  their  term  of  sentence  had  expired,  or  sent  there  direct 
from  the  court  upon  conviction.  As  soon  as  it  is  known  in  a 
prison  that  the  insane  can  be  removed  before  the  expiration  of 
sentence,  there  will  be  much  simulating  in  order  to  get  to  a  hospi- 
tal, as  escape  would  be  considered  easier  than  from  the  prison 
proper.  Simulated  insanity  is  more  trouble  to  the  officers  of  the 
prison  than  real  insanity. 

Separation  of  the  classes  that  make  up  the  prison  population 
is  the  common  sense  of  the  subject.  There  is  a  class  in  all  prisons 
in  considerable  numbers  that  it  would  be  proper  to  provide  a 
separate  prison  for,— persons  who  are  convicted  of  crimes  against 
persons  where  property  was  in  no  way  connected  with  the  offense. 
They  are  not  criminals,  nor  are  they  likely  to  be  after  the  expira- 
tion of  the  term  of  which  they  were  sentenced.  They  are  generally 
the  best-conducted  prisoners  in  any  prison.  Many  of  them  con- 
victed of  the  crime  for  which  they  were  sentenced  were  innocent 
of  any  intent  to  commit  crime  before  or  at  the  time  of  its  commis- 
sion, and  frequently  had  no  knowledge  of  it  for  some  time  after. 
Most  of  this  class  are  industrious.  Honest  and  truthful,  generally 
respected  by  the  community  in  which  they  lived,  they  do  not  re- 
quire the  treatment  necessary  for  the  habitual  criminal.  A  separ- 
ate prison  for  this  class  is  as  much  needed  as  for  the  criminal 
insane. 

FROM  WARDEN'S  ANNUAL  REPORT,  1892. 

The  increase  of  insane  inmates  in  the  various  institutions  in 
this  State  for  the  care  and  treatment  of  such  persons  is  greater 
than  the  increase  of  the  criminal  population  of  the  State.  Insane 
persons  convicted  of  crime  are  generally  committed  to  the  prisons. 
Juries  hesitate  to  find  verdicts  of  murder  in  the  first  degree  when 
insanity,  real  or  simulated,  is  offered  as  the  defense.  Objections 
are  made  to  having  insane  persons  in  prisons ;  to  have  persons  con- 
victed of  crime  sent  to  the  hospitals  which  the  State  has  provided 
for  the  treatment  of  such  of  its  citizens  so  afflicted  is  also  objection- 
able. An  institution  in  a  central  location,  with  two  separate  de- 
partments, one  for  all  the  criminal  insane  and  the  other  for  all 
persons  convicted  of  homicide  of  a  lesser  degree  than  that  to  which 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  95 

capital  punishment  is  awarded, — such  an  institution  would  relieve 
both  the  penitentiaries  and  the  State  hospitals  for  the  insane  oi 
persons,  who  could  be  treated  more  carefully  and  much  safer  for 
themselves  and  others.  Out  of  the  whole  number  (1104)  in  this 
Penitentiary  on  the  the  first  of  January,  106  were  convicted  of 
homicide,  the  defense  in  many  of  these  cases  being  insanity. 


Insanity* 

TESTIMONY  BEFORE  LEGISLATIVE  COMMITTEE,  AT  THE  PENITEN- 
TIARY, JUNE  21,  1897. 

Q. — Is  the  simulating  of  insanity  common  or  rare  in  prisons, 
as  compared  with  the  same  thing  in  persons  on  the  outside? 

A. — The  motive  in  the  prison  is  far  greater  than  it  is  among 
the  generality  of  the  community  outside.  The  simulators  in  a 
prison  are  a  class  of  people  that  are  not  exactly  like  any  class  out- 
side in  this  respect,  that  those  outside  are  not  attacked  or  show 
symptoms  in  the  same  way  so  much. 

Q. — I  wish  you  would  give  us  the  benefit  of  your  experience, 
stating  individual  instances,  in  regard  to  the  motives  that  induce 
prisoners  to  practice  deception,  and  to  what  lengths  the  prisoner 
will  go,  also  the  arts  they  will  practice  or  engage  in  to  play  the  part 
of  a  lunatic? 

A. — They  will  resort  to  almost  any  suffering  and  torture  be- 
fore they  will  give  it  up,  and  some  don't  give  it  up  at  all,  but  con- 
tinue it  during  their  entire  time  here.  I  knew  of  one  man  who  was 
here,  who  it  was  admitted  by  everybody  in  the  place,  had  lost  his 
teeth,  and  could  not  talk,  and  that  he  had  a  suicidal  mania.  But  he 
always  managed  to  hang  himself  just  before  the  overseer  was  com- 
ing along  to  serve  the  dinner,  shut  the  door,  or  do  something, 
when  the  man  would  be  pretty  sure  to  be  discovered  before  he 
would  choke.  He  continued  that  for  five  years.  They  couldn't 
trap  him.  If  a  slate  was  handed  to  him,  he  wrould  write  on  it.  He 
finally  got  a  pardon.  When  he  came  down  to  the  office  to  leave, 
he  could  talk  as  well  as  I  do  now;  he  could  talk  elegantly. 

Q. — Do  they  or  not  frequently  exhibit  a  marvellous  cunning 
notwithstanding  a  very  limited  intelligence? 

A. — Yes,  most  of  the  mentally-affected  or  feeble-minded  peo- 
ple exhibit  great  ingenuity.  One  woman  who  was  here, — had  been 


96  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

several  times  before, — had  a  trouble  called  "galvanic  rheumatism." 
She  couldn't  walk,  but  had  to  go  on  crutches.  She  fooled  her 
three  years'  sentence  in  that  way.  She  then  complained  at  another 
time  of  some  internal  trouble,  and  called  the  doctor  for  treatment. 
When  leaving  the  institution,  as  soon  as  she  reached  the  outside, 
she  flung  the  crutches  inside. 

Q. — When  a  prisoner  confesses  that  he  has  been  playing  and 
makes  a  full  acknowledgment,  is  he  treated  thereafter  the  same  as 
other  prisoners,  or  are  privileges,  such  as  books,  writing  letters, 
etc.,  withheld  from  him? 

A. — He  is  treated  just  precisely  the  same  as  he  was  when  he 
commenced  it,  or  just  where  he  left  off.  No  matter  what  he  has 
done,  if  he  has  assaulted  an  officer,  and  badly  injured  him,  the 
prisoner  receives  the  same  sort  of  treatment  he  received  before  the 
commission.  I  would  like  it  to  be  distinctly  understood  that  there 
is  not  one  particle  of  vengeance  in  this  institution,  and  never  has 
been. 

Q. — When  prisoners  suddenly  break  out  in  a  frenzy  or  exhibit 
the  slightest  mental  disturbance,  what  is  done,  or  what  means  are 
employed  to  arrive  at  an  intelligent  opinion,  to  guide  you  in  the 
disposal  of  a  particular  case  or  in  the  treatment  of  it? 

A. — To  get  the  prisoner  by  himself  and  treat  him  in  that  way, 
individually,  until  we  can  ascertain  something  about  the  case. 
You  cannot  do  it  when  he  has  some  one  with  him  to  encourage 
him.  Once  I  have  made  up  my  mind  the  man  is  insane  I  always 
promptly  inform  the  Judge  sending  him  here. 

Q. — Does  it  happen  that  Judges  send  you  prisoners  who  are 
insane  on  reception,  instead  of  sending  them  to  an  insane  asy- 
lum? If  so,  does  this  not  tend  to  lead  the  public  to  form  unwar- 
ranted conclusions  respecting  the  treatment  of  prisoners? 

A. — Yes,  it  has  been  stated  in  evidence  here  that  no  Judge  had 
sent  here  a  prisoner  who  was  insane.  Last  week  a  Judge  of  our 
court  here  sentenced  a  lunatic  for  fifteen  years,  and  didn't  send 
him  to  an  insane  asylum,  but  sent  him  to  prison. 

Q. — Can  you  recall  any  cases  where  the  prisoners,  as  the  re- 
sult of  care  and  treatment  given  them,  regained  their  former  health 
and  were  discharged  in  as  good  a  condition  as  they  were  when  re- 
ceived? 

A. — There  are  many  cases  of  that  sort,  cases  in  which  the 
Commission  have  decided  that  the  prisoners  ought  to  be  removed, 
where  the  prisoners  have  gotten  well  and  gone  out. 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  97 

The  Bertillon  System  for  the  Registration  of  Prisoners. 

NATIONAL  PRISON  ASSOCIATION,  TORONTO,  CANADA,  SEPTEMBER 

12,  1887. 

Upon  the  proposition  to  adopt  the  Bertillon  System  for  the 
Registration  of  Prisoners,  Mr.  Cassidy  made  these  observations : 

Society  is  entitled  to  some  protection  in  spite  of  all  the  senti- 
mentalism  of  theorists.  The  professional  burglar  who  enters 
houses  in  the  middle  of  the  night  may  not  commit  murder.  But 
in  all  cases  of  burglary  human  life  is  put  in  jeopardy.  And  often 
where  a  delicate  wife  or  daughter  is  at  home,  the  happiness  of  the 
family  is  ruined  by  nervous  prostration  resulting  from  excitement. 
Yet  society  is  advised  to  take  the  scoundrel  who  wrought  this  mis- 
chief and  handle  him  delicately  and  protect  him.  Honest  people 
have  a  right  to  protection  as  well  as  burglars.  Three  offenses 
should  have  capital  penalties  attached  to  them:  burglary  by  night 
where  human  life  is  endangered,  the  obstruction  of  a  railroad,  and 
arson.  Then  there  will  be  no  need  of  registration.  The  commun- 
ity is  saved  the  expense  of  recommitment.  It  is  better  to  dispose 
of  such  men  in  this  way  than  it  is  to  lock  them  up  for  ten  or  fifteen 
years,  to  be  cared  for  and  preached  at  and  the  Gospel  forced  upon 
them  without  effect.  Commutation  laws  are  made  for  this  class 
of  criminals.  A  professional  criminal,  the  moment  he  enters 
prison,  begins  to  calculate  the  time  he  can  earn  by  good  behavior, 
and  he  gains  every  minute  of  it.  The  poor  fellow  who  never  saw 
the  inside  of  a  prison  before,  loses  his  temper  and  his  good  time 
with  it.  He  is  not  posted  as  is  the  man  who  makes  crime  a  busi- 
ness. 

The  first  effort  of  a  habitual  criminal  is  to  square  himself  with 
the  policeman  by  whom  he  is  arrested.  Next  he  tries  to  get  bail 
at  the  preliminary  hearing  before  the  magistrate.  Then,  through 
friends,  he  endeavors  to  keep  witnesses  away  from  the  grand  jury. 
Failing  in  these  several  stages,  he  secures  the  best  lawyer  his  means 
will  permit,  and  then  begins  a  legal  tussle  before  the  court  and 
jury,  where  every  device  is  taken  advantage  of  to  postpone  trial  or 
accomplish  a  miscarriage  of  justice.  Those  who  are  unfortunate 
enough  to  miss  all  these  avenues  of  escape,  and  finally  get  inside  of 
prison  doors,  continue  to  use  every  influence  they  can  reach  to 
make  their  time  easier,  through  special  favors  from  prison  authori- 
ties or  by  their  own  exemplary  conduct  as  prisoners  earning  the 


98  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

largest  possible  commutation  for  good  behavior.  Every  official 
connected  in  any  way  with  the  search  for,  arrest,  trial,  and  im- 
prisonment of  these  criminals  knows  well  of  the  almost  innumer- 
able methods  adopted  to  escape  justice,  and  how  frequently  they 
are  in  whole  or  in  part  successful — I  speak  of  the  professional 
criminal — knows  in  advance  just  what  chances  he  takes  and  is  pre- 
pared to  act. 

All  these  avenues  of  escape  society  opens  to  the  criminal,  and 
it  costs  time  and  money  to  place  the  most  dangerous  criminals  be- 
hind the  bars. 

Something  ought  to  be  done  for  the  community. 

Do  any  of  you  get  a  reward  for  behaving  yourselves?  Every 
good  citizen  behaves  himself  without  being  rewarded  for  it.  The 
sympathy  of  the  community  is  with  the  vagabond  in  prison.  It 
demands  of  the  warden  that  he  shall  allow  the  prisoner  every 
privilege  to  which  he  may  be  Entitled  by  the  law;  but  if  merited 
punishment  is  inflicted  upon  a  disobedient  inmate,  then  there  is  a 
public  outcry  against  inhumanity. 

At  the  National  Prison  Association,  at  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  October 
10-14,  1891,  Warden  Cassidy  read  the  following  paper: 

Prisons  I  Visited  in  Ireland,  England,  France,  and 
Belgium,  and  What  I  Saw— 1890. 

MR.   PRESIDENT  AND   GENTLEMEN   OF  THE   PRISON   WARDENS' 

ASSOCIATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES: 

Not  being  present  at  the  last  annual  meeting  of  the  Associa- 
tion held  in  September,  1890,  at  Cincinnati,  some  explanation  is 
demanded  by  the  President,  who  will  not  accept  excuses  or  apolo- 
gies, but  must  have  facts  that  will  justify  non-attendance.  I  will 
state  the  cause  of  my  absence  from  the  last  meeting  and  give  the 
facts. 

An  alibi  is  a  good  defense  in  any  case,  if  you  really  have  one, 
and  I  think  I  have. 

Lord  Lytton  said,  'That  a  dunce  who  has  been  to  Rome  ex- 
cels a  dunce  that  stayed  at  home." 

On  the  2  ist  of  June,  1890,  I  took  passage  on  the  good  ship 
"Ethiopia,"  which  sailed  from  New  York  on  that  date,  bound 
for  Glasgow,  via  Londonderry;  at  twelve  noon  passed  Sandy  Hook 
lightship,  ten  miles.  I  was  then  fairly  out  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States,  on  a  British  ship,  and  under  the  English  flag. 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  99 

The  voyage  was  devoid  of  any  particlar  incident,  as  most  sea 
voyages  are.  In  eleven  days  we  were  landed  in  Londonderry,  Ire- 
land, on  the  ist  of  July,  at  10  P.M. 

My  first  desire  next  morning  was  to  see  the  jail.  I  waited  on 
Mayor  Baxter  and  presented  letters  from  Mayor  Fitler  and  Direc- 
tor of  Police  Stokley,  of  Philadelphia.  I  was  received  very  cour- 
teously and  my  request  to  visit  the  jail  complied  with. 

THE  JAIL  AT  LONDONDERRY. 

The  mayor  accompanied  me  to  the  jail,  where  he  introduced 
me  to  the  chief  officer  in  charge,  the  governor  being  absent.  The 
chief  warder  (subordinate  officers  are  styled  warders)  escorted  me 
through  the  prison,  which  is  an  old  structure,  the  ground  plan  of 
which  is  a  semicircle,  or  more  plainly  described,  like  a  horseshoe. 

The  cell  structure  is  three  tiers  high,  containing  one  hundred 
and  fifty  cells.  The  cells  are  seven  by  ten  feet  by  nine  feet  high, 
lighted  by  window  two  feet  by  twenty  inches  cross-barred,  making 
it  secure  and  admitting  sufficient  light  and  air.  The  doors  of  the 
cells  open  on  a  passage  about  six  feet  wide  running  on  the  outside 
of  the  circle.  Each  cell  has  close  wooden  doors  secured  by  locks 
and  bolts,  with  vision  holes  in  the  doors  for  supervision.  The  cell 
furniture  consists  of  a  wooden  form  two  feet  wide,  six  feet  long, 
with  sides  like  a  box,  which  raises  it  seven  inches  from  the  floor. 
No  bed,  two  blankets,  two  sheets,  no  pillow,  a  mess  pan,  tin  cup, 
no  knives  or  forks,  a  bench  to  sit  on,  no  water  in  the  cells  only  as 
brought  in.  The  diet  is  sufficient,  but  the  food  not  plenty.  The 
structure  is  an  old  one;  part  of  it  was  built  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury; the  most  recent  additions  were  made  about  eighty  years  ago. 

There  were  forty  female  prisoners  in  a  separate  building,  cared 
for  by  a  matron,  with  three  assistants. 

There  are  twenty  officers  employed,  who  are  paid  about  $500 
per  annum.  These  officers  are  armed  with  pistols. 

There  appears  to  be  very  good  supervision,  but  no  productive 
labor  done  other  than  breaking  stone  for  contractors  who  make 
streets.  The  price  paid  is  ten  pence  per  ton,  twenty  cents  of  our 
money. 

All  supplies  are  purchased  by  contract,  given  out  by  the  gov- 
ernment. Cost  per  diem  per  capita  one  shilling  and  eight  pence, 
forty-one  cents  of  our  money. 


100  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

The  entrance  to  the  jail  is  through  a  gateway  about  ten  feet 
wide;  an  outer  wooden  gate  with  a  wicket-gate  to  admit  persons. 
At  the  inner  end  of  the  gateway,  which  is  about  sixty  feet,  is  an 
iron  latticed  gate,  the  gate-keepers,  and  receiving  office  between 
the  two  gates.  This  is  the  only  entrance  to  the  jail. 

The  ventilation  appears  to  be  free,  as  no  perceptible  odor  is 
noticeable  in  passing  through  the  prison. 

The  prisoners  have  an  hour  of  walking  exercise  each  day, 
walking  about  ten  feet  apart,  and  are  not  permitted  to  communi- 
cate, and  subject  to  some  penalty  if  they  are  observed  doing  so. 
They  are  not  masked  or  covered  in  any  way  to  prevent  recogni- 
tion. 

Most  of  the  inmates  are  young  men  with  sentences  of  two 
years  down  to  thirty  days.  No  negroes.  Only  one  death  in  each 
of  the  past  two  years. 

The  washing  of  prisoners'  clothes  is  done  by  the  female  in- 
mates of  the  jail.  Some  of  the  women  are  engaged  picking 
oakum,  which  is  a  punishment  surely. 

There  are  very  strict  regulations  in  regard  to  the  admission  of 
visitors.  No  person  is  admitted  unless  by  official  order  of  one  of 
the  visiting  justices,  or  the  mayor,  who  is  one  by  virtue  of  his 
office. 

Prisoners  are  permitted  to  have  visits  from  friends  once  in 
three  months  and  allowed  to  write  every  two  months. 

Tobacco  is  prohibited.  There  is  a  library,  but  it  is  very  lim- 
ited. 

The  general  public  are  not  permitted  to  visit  the  prison. 

They  have  Protestant  and  Catholic  service  on  Sundays.  The 
Catholic  priest  visits  the  prisoners  during  the  week.  The  separate 
system  of  treatment  is  observed  as  the  primary  discipline  of  the 
management. 

My  visit  to  the  Derry  jail  was  very  interesting,  and  having 
seen  all  of  it  I  bid  good-bye  to  Derry. 

Next  day,  July  4th,  I  went  to  Belfast;  arrived  there  that  even- 
ing. Next  morning  went  out  to  see  about  getting  into  the  Antrim 
County  Jail,  located  there.  The  mayor  was  not  at  the  mayor's 
office.  I  went  to  his  place  of  business  at  Linen  Hall ;  was  there  in- 
formed that  the  mayor  was  out  of  town.  His  clerk  after  some 
trouble  obtained  an  order  from  one  of  the  visiting  justices  admit- 
ting me  into  the 


WARDEN  CASSIDY  ON  PRISONS'' AND  'CONV^dTS/  '        IOI 
ANTRIM  COUNTY  PRISON. 

It  is  the  most  complete  county  prison  I  have  ever  seen,  built 
of  brown  stone,  covering  nearly  ten  acres.  Double  gateway,  with 
the  governor's  residence  on  the  right,  inside  of  the  gate.  The 
order  of  admission  was  sent  to  the  governor  by  the  gate-keeper, 
and  was  returned  with  directions  to  give  me  in  charge  of  the  chief 
warder.  All  subordinate  officers  of  prisons  here  are  termed  war- 
ders. The  governor  did  not  make  his  appearance.  The  chief 
warder  was  entirely  familiar  with  all  the  details  of  the  prison  and  its 
management.  He  gave  me  every  opportunity  to  see  all  of  the 
workings  of  the  institution. 

There  are  four  blocks  of  cells,  three  tiers  high,  running  off 
from  one  center,  with  cells  on  either  side  of  a  ten-foot  hallway. 

There  are  seven  hundred  cells  in  all,  six  feet  six  inches  in 
width  by  twelve  feet  in  length,  ten  feet  high,  lighted  by  a  barred 
window  two  feet  by  twenty  inches,  closed  wooden  doors  locked  on 
the  outside,  a  small  opening  in  the  door  for  supervision.  The  cell 
floors  are  of  concrete.  They  have  gas-light  in  each  cell.  No 
water  or  water-closet.  Not  much  furniture  of  any  sort.  The  bed 
arrangement  much  the  same  as  in  the  Derry  Jail ;  a  box  for  a  bed, 
which  stands  on  end  during  the  day,  with  blankets  folded  on  top. 
In  the  yard  there  are  stalls  six  feet  in  width,  about  eight  feet  in 
depth,  roofed  over  with  the  front  open.  There  is  no  productive 
labor  other  than  breaking  stone,  except  some  shoemaking  and 
weaving  for  the  use  of  the  prison. 

These  stalls  are  built  in  ranges ;  one  prisoner  is  placed  in  each 
stall  to  keep  them  separate.  A  tramway  runs  along  the  open  end 
of  the  stalls.  The  stone  is  brought  to  them,  and  when  broken 
taken  away  on  this  tramway.  Each  prisoner  has  an  allotted 
amount  to  do,  which  can  be  done  easily  in  the  time  allowed.  The 
stone  is  used  in  making  streets. 

There  are  two  hundred  and  forty  women  in  a  separate  build- 
ing, cared  for  by  female  attendants. 

All  the  washing  for  the  prison  is  done  by  the  women. 

There  were  six  hundred  prisoners  in  confinement  at  that  time, 
in  charge  of  thirty  male  and  ten  female  subordinate  officers.  There 
are  fifty  officers  of  all  grades  employed. 

The  term  of  sentence  to  this  prison  is  mostly  for  six  months 
and  less. 


IO2  WARDEN    CASGIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

Everything  is  in  good  order  and  clean. 

In  the  inclosure  between  the  cell  buildings  is  a  set  of  yards 
for  separate  exercise.  Eight  separate  inclosures  radiating  from  a 
center  where  there  is  an  elevated  observatory,  in  which  is  placed  an 
officer  for  supervision  of  the  prisoners  during  the  time  of  exercise. 
These  yards  are  in  an  octagon  space,  with  walls  separating  each 
prisoner.  Separate  or  cellular  treatment  is  carried  out  entirely — 
no  congregating  of  prisoners  for  any  purpose.  In  chapel  the  seats 
are  partitioned  so  that  the  prisoners  do  not  mingle.  .Both  Catholic 
and  Protestant  service  is  held  every  Sunday. 

There  is  so  much  formality  in  the  discipline  that  there  is  little 
time  for  any  one  thing. 

The  cooking  is  done  in  the  basement  and  the  cooked  food 
sent  up  on  elevators. 

For  ventilation  there  is  a  shaft  or  chimney  one  hundred  feet 
high.  There  is  a  flue  running  along  in  the  inner  wall  near  the  top 
of  the  cells,  leading  into  the  shaft,  with  openings  from  each  cell  into 
the  flue,  which  takes  off  any  foul  air  that  may  be  in  the  cells. 
There  is  a  fire  constantly  kept  in  the  bottom  of  the  shaft  which 
creates  a  strong  draught  continuously,  insuring  a  constant  current 
of  air  through  the  cells.  There  is  no  perceptible  odor  in  any  part 
of  the  prison. 

The  inside  walls  are  whitewashed.  The  corridors  are  lighted 
by  large  skylights  in  the  roof. 

This  prison  has  been  in  use  about  thirty  years.  The  separate 
or  cellular  method  of  treatment  has  been  strictly  observed  from  the 
first.  The  architecture  of  the  structure  is  taken  from  the  Eastern 
State  Penitentiary  at  Philadelphia.  The  method  pursued  in  the 
treatment  of  the  individuals  therein  confined  is  the  same  as  is 
known  everywhere  in  Europe  as  the  Pennsylvania  system. 

Thanking  the  chief  warder  for  his  kind  attention  and  his 
evident  desire  to  give  me  every  opportunity  to  see  all  of  the 
prison,  I  bade  him  good-bye. 

After  leaving  the  prison  I  took  a  conveyance  and  was  shown 
much  of  Belfast  and  its  suburbs,  which  are  extensive.  Wide 
streets,  fine  residences,  large  business  places,  public  buildings,  col- 
leges, churches,  parks,  botanical  gardens,  all  evidencing  thrift  and 
industry  in  the  people  of  Belfast. 

After  spending  several  days  in  the  mountains  of  Donegal  and 
Derry  I  went  to  Dublin.  Next  morning  after  arriving  tHere  I 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS.  IO3 

went  to  Dublin  Castle  to  find  some  authority  that  would  admit  me 
into  the  prison  located  there.  I  was  directed  to  the  prison  board 
that  direct  the  management  of  convict  prisons  of  Ireland.  I  saw 
the  vice-president  of  the  board,  presented  a  letter  from  Richard 
Vaux,  president  of  the  board  of  inspectors  of  the  Eastern  State 
Penitentiary.  Vice-President  O'Brien  read  the  letter.  He  said, 
"I  know  of  this  gentleman;  his  name  is  sufficient  guarantee  for 
anything  in  my  power  to  grant."  He  gave  me  an  order  of  admis- 
sion to  the  governor  of  the 

MOUNT  JOY  PRISON, 

which  is  considered  the  model  institution  of  the  Irish  system.  The 
prison  is  about  twenty  minutes'  ride  from  the  center  of  the  city, 
very  pleasantly  located,  covering  about  nine  acres.  On  presenting 
the  order  at  the  gate  I  was  taken  in  charge  by  the  deputy-governor, 
the  governor  being  absent  at  the  time.  I  was  given  every  oppor- 
tunity to  see  all  of  the  conduct  and  management  of  the  prison. 

The  structure  of  this  prison  is  similar  to  the  one  at  Belfast. 
Three  blocks  of  cells  radiate  from  an  octagon  center.  They  are 
three  tiers  high,  with  cells  on  either  side  of  a  ten-foot  corridor. 
There  are  six  hundred  cells  in  all.  The  dimensions  of  the  cells  are 
the  same  as  cells  in  the  County  Antrim  Jail.  Cell  furniture  con- 
sists of  a  table  and  stool  chained  together,  and  a  box  with  sides 
four  inches  high,  six  feet  long,  twenty  inches  wide.  This  box 
swings  across  the  cell  on  hooks  when  in  use,  about  eighteen  inches 
from  the  floor.  A  thin  mattress,  two  blankets  and  a  rug  cover  are 
provided.  This  sort  of  bed  is  for  the  orderly  class  who  are  well 
conducted  and  have  been  in  prison  more  than  a  year;  all  others 
have  blankets  but  no  mattress.  The  box  stands  on  end  against  the 
wall  during  the  clay  with  the  bed  clothes  on  top  neatly  folded.  A 
tin  basin,  tin  water  cup,  tin  mess  pan,  are  the  total  of  the  prisoner's 
conveniences.  No  ornament  of  any  sort  permitted  in  any  of  the 
cells.  The  food  is  limited  and  given  in  quantity  according  to  the 
class  of  the  prisoner.  Half  pound  of  meat  cooked  away  in  soup 
twice  a  week;  the  meat  is  weighed  before  cooked.  Oatmeal  mush 
other  days.  One  pint  of  soup  is  the  ration;  that  is  all  one  can 
have;  coffee  or  gruel  for  breakfast  and  supper. 

There  is  no  productive  or  skilled  labor  other  than  a  limited 
amount  of  mats  and  some  matting,  which  is  sold  in  the  city.  All 
other  work  done  is  for  the  prison.  Clothes  and  shoes  are  made 


IO4  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

for  this  and  other  prisons.  All  building,  mason,  and  carpenter 
work  is  done  by  the  inmates,  and  it  is  well  done. 

There  is  no  overwork,  but  there  is  a  gratuity  allowed  and 
given  on  discharge;  this  gratuity  is  forfeited  by  misconduct  any 
time  during  the  term  of  the  prisoner. 

There  are  ten  dark  or  punishment  cells  radiating  from  a  cen- 
ter. They  have  double  doors  and  a  vestibule  to  each  cell  of  about 
four  feet  square.  The  door  of  the  vestibule  opens  into  the  center, 
the  cell  door  opens  into  the  vestibule.  These  cells  are  about  four 
feet  wide  at  the  door,  widening  as  they  extend  back  to  eight  feet 
at  the  rear  end;  they  are  about  twelve  feet  in  length.  They  are 
lighted  from  skylight  in  the  roof,  but  can  be  made  absolutely  dark. 
These  cells  are  fifteen  feet  high.  They  are  dungeons  surely. 

No  seasoning  is  furnished  to  the  prisoner  for  the  food,  such  as 
salt,  pepper,  or  vinegar;  he  must  take  it  as  prepared. 

I  saw  all  of  this  prison  and  talkel  with  the  chief  warder  and 
other  officers  about  the  characteristics  of  the  people  who  make  up 
the  population  of  the  prison.  I  find  that  the  inmates  of  Irish  penal 
institutions  have  the  same  peculiarities  as  those  confined  elsewhere 
under  similar  conditions. 

The  management  of  the  Mount  Joy  Prison  is  conducted  on  the 
Pennsylvania  system  of  non-association  of  prisoners. 

The  ticket-of-leave  system  in  Ireland — parole  it  is  called  in 
the  United  States — has  not  produced  the  results  that  Captain 
Maconochie  and  Sir  Walter  Crofton,  the  projectors,  and  other  ad- 
vocates of  the  system  expected  to  be  derived  from  it.  Originally, 
according  to  methods  pursued  in  carrying  it  out,  a  convict  having 
a  twelve-years'  sentence  would  serve  eight  months  at  the  Mount 
Joy  Prison.  Then  transferred  to  Spike  Island,  a  congregate 
prison,  to  serve  at  least  seven  years.  He  may  then  be  liberated  on 
license  after  serving  nine  years  altogether.  That  license  is  the 
parole.  Spike  Island  Prison  has  been  abandoned  altogether. 
Time  served  there  was  considered  the  most  important  feature  in  the 
Irish  system.  The  police  surveillance  of  released  prisoners  is  still 
maintained,  the  results  of  which,  in  a  country  governed  as  Ireland 
is,  makes  emigration  the  only  alternative  for  the  discharged  pris- 
oner. By  this  method  the  population  of  Irish  prisons  has  been  re- 
duced, which  fact  has  been  frequently  referred  to  as  the  results  of 
the  reformatory  influence  produced  by  the  Irish  system  of  parole 
and  voluntary  transportation. 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON   PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS.  IO5 


There  is  no  doubt  of  the  efficiency  of  the  management  and 
direction  of  the  discipline  of  the  Mount  Joy  Prison.  I  went  from 
there  with  pleasant  recollections  of  the  cordial  attention  shown  me 
by  the  officer  in  charge  and  others  connected  with  the  institution. 

Most  of  the  inmates  of  the  Irish  prisons  are  young  men  under 
twenty-five  years  of  age,  and  are  apparently  healthy.  They  look 
as  if  they  were  under  a  continual  strain.  The  discipline  is  rigid 
and  exacting,  and  must  be  enforced  as  the  law  directs.  All  the 
movements  are  precise  as  machinery.  The  garb  worn  by  the 
prisoner  is  uniform  in  color  and  distinctive,  but  no  stripes. 

The  cost  per  diem  per  capita  one  shilling  and  eight  pence,  about 
forty-one  cents  of  our  money.  All  expenditure  is  by  government, 
and  supplies  furnished  by  contract. 

From  Dublin  I  went  to  the  city  of  Cork,  then  to  Queenstown 
by  way  of  the  Lakes  of  Killarney  and  Blarney  Castle.  All  the 
points  of  interest  on  this  route  have  been  described  by  many  tour- 
ists. Queenstown  is  a  beautiful  harbor.  From  the  heights  back 
of  the  town  a  fine  view  is  had  of  the  harbor  and  fortifications. 
Spike  Island  is  situated  in  this  harbor,  directly  opposite  the  town, 
on  which  can  be  seen  the  ruins  of  the  famous  prison  which  once 
constituted  two-thirds  of  the  parole  system  of  Sir  Walter  Crofton. 
I  returned  to  Dublin  from  Queenstown  by  way  of  Limerick.  Af- 
ter spending  several  days  looking  around  the  beautiful  city  I  left 
for  London,  feeling  assured  that  an  American  is  given  the  right  of 
way  anywhere  in  Ireland. 

I  left  Dublin  at  7  A.M.  by  boat  from  Kingstown  to  Holyhead; 
was  four  hours  in  crossing.  From  there  took  train,  arrived  in 
London  at  5.30  P.M.  Next  morning  I  went  to  see  about  getting 
into  the  prisons.  I  first  went  to  Scotland  Yard,  the  police  head- 
quarters. Was  there  informed  that  they  could  do  nothing,  as  the 
authority  I  required  was  vested  entirely  in  the  home  office.  I 
then  went  to  the  American  Embassy,  123  Victoria  Street,  West- 
minster, where  I  was  kindly  received  by  Mr.  White,  secretary  of 
Legation,  to  whom  I  presented  my  letters  of  identification.  After 
looking  them  over  he  presented  me  to  the  American  minister, 
Robert  Lincoln,  who  was  very  kind  and  courteous,  without  any 
assumption  of  dignity  or  reserve.  I  was  received  and  treated  as 
an  American  citizen  by  an  American  gentleman. 

He  stated  that  he  would  make  a  request  to  the  home  depart- 
ment to  have  my  application  to  visit  the  prisons  favorably  con- 


IO6  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS. 

sidered,  and  send  me  the  reply  of  the  home  department  when  re- 
ceived. 

It  was  several  days  before  I  received  the  orders  that  would 
admit  me  into  the  prisons.  While  waiting  I  saw  much  of  London. 

The  first  prison  I  went  to  when  I  received  permission  to  do  so 
was  Millbank,  which  is  situated  on  the  river  about  two  miles  from 
the  Charing  Cross  Hotel,  where  I  was  located. 

On  presenting  the  order  of  admission  at  the  gate  I  was  ad- 
mitted to  await  the  governor's  direction.  After  waiting  an  hour 
for  the  governor  I  was  taken  in  charge  by  the  chief  warder,  who 
introduced  me  into  the 

MILLBANK  PRISON. 

It  is  an  ill-contrived  structure,  not  at  all  suited  for  the  pur- 
pose for  which  it  was  designed,  a  separate  treatment  prison.  It  is 
dark  and  cheerless.  The  cells  are  six  by  twelve,  nine  feet  high. 
The  whole  structure  is  of  brick,  not  plastered.  The  prison  is  used 
as  a  lock-up  or  place  of  detention  for  persons  awaiting  trial. 

This  once  great  prison  that  was  erected  for  a  separate  system 
prison,  and  was  much  boasted  of  at  the  time,  has  been  a  miserable 
failure,  and  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  constructed  abandoned. 

There  is  no  work  of  any  sort.  The  prisoners  sent  here  are 
for  short  terms,  not  over  three  months. 

No  furniture  in  the  cells,  plank  bed,  three  blankets,  wash- 
basin, and  water  can.  There  are  no  conveniences  whatever  for  the 
prisoners. 

Having  seen  all  that  I  desired,  bade  the  warder  good-bye,  I 
was  met  by  the  governor  as  I  was  going  out.  He  is  a  tall,  pleas- 
ant-looking gentleman,  but  had  no  time  to  waste  on  me,  excused 
himself  and  went  about  his  business,  and  I  went  my  way. 

There  was  nothing  about  Millbank  Prison  that  would  indicate 
that  it  had  ever  been  suitable  for  a  penal  institution.  I  next  went 
to  the 

PENTONVILLE  PRISON. 

On  presenting  the  order  for  my  admission  into  the  prison  I 
was  handed  over  to  the  warder-in-chief,  the  governor  not  being 
visible.  I  was  taken  through  the  principal  parts  of  the  structure. 

There  are  four  blocks  four  tiers  high  radiating  from  one 
center,  with  cells  on  either  side  of  a  ten-foot  wide  corridor.  The 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS.  IO? 

cells  are  of  the  same  dimension  as  in  the  Irish  prisons.     From  the 
center  a  general  supervision  is  had  of  the  whole. 

This  is  the  model  prison  of  England,  known  as  a  penal  servi- 
tude convict  prison.  Prisoners  sentenced  to  five  years  or  more 
are  sent  here.  For  the  first  nine  months  solitary  confinement,  and 
it  is  solitary. 

Some  work  is  done  here,  such  as  mat-making  and  clothes  and 
shoes  for  prisoners  and  officers,  but  no  productive  labor.  There 
are  two  large  tread-wheels  on  which  one  hundred  men  can  operate, 
making  power  sufficient  to  grind  grain  for  making  the  flour  used 
in  the  prison, 

The  men  tramp  on  the  wheel  fifteen  minutes,  then  a  rest  of 
five  minutes,  leaving  two-thirds  of  the  whole  number  on  the  wheel 
all  the  time.  The  wheel  is  about  fifteen  feet  in  diameter,  with  steps 
ten  inches  apart  on  the  outside  of  the  wheel,  the  weight  of  the  men 
turning  it.  The  weight  of  the  men  is  always  on  the  center  of  the 
outside  of  the  wheel.  They  are  continually  climbing  almost  per- 
pendicular, the  wheel  receding  from  them  ten  inches  at  every  step 
they  make.  No  doubt  it  is  exercise;  that  is  all  the  men  get  out  of 
it. 

The  flour  is  not  bolted,  but  made  into  bread  whole  as  it  comes 
from  the  stone,  dark  and  coarse. 

The  food  is  prepared  in  the  usual  way  and  served  in  the  cells. 
The  soup  is  made  with  half  pound  of  cooked  meat  and  pease. 
The  meat  is  cooked  away  in  the  soup,  a  pint  of  which  is  allowed  to 
each  prisoner.  This  ration  is  given  twice  a  week.  Other  days 
porridge  and  suet  pudding  are  provided. 

The  bread  and  everything  is  carefully  weighed  out.  All  get 
the  same  quantity.  If  a  piece  of  bread  is  cut  short  of  weight  an- 
other piece  is  tacked  on  to  it  with  a  wooden  peg.  The  diet  is 
regulated  by  act  of  Parliament.  The  prisoner  that  requires  more 
cannot  get  it.  The  one  who  does  not  want  as  much  must  take  it. 
Everything  is  done  by  rule  made  by  law,  and  must  be  complied 
with.  No  individual  judgment  of  an  officer  is  permitted  in  any 
case.  They  have  dark  cells  for  the  refractory,  and  use  irons  and 
other  mechanical  restraints. 

This  structure  was  erected  in  1840,  and  designed  for  a  separate 
or  cellular  prison.  The  ground  plan  is  taken  from  the  Philadel- 
phia prison. 

All  the  prisons  in  this  country  are  built  of  brick,  not  plastered, 


I08  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS. 

but  whitewashed.  Between  the  blocks  or  cell  buildings  are  exer- 
cising grounds,  where  the  prisoners  have  an  hour  each  day,  except 
Sunday  or  stormy  weather.  The  men  who  have  work  do  not  have 
this  exercise.  There  are  not  many  of  them. 

They  have  a  chapel  for  daily  religious  service  as  well  as  Sun- 
day. 

The  officer  who  had  me  in  charge  seemed  desirous  of  showing 
the  chapel. 

They  have  both  Catholic  and  Protestant  service  on  Sunday, 
and  have  both  sorts  of  chaplains  employed.  Each  prisoner  is 
allowed  to  take  his  choice,  and  does  so  just  as  he  finds  the  chaplain 
to  suit  his  purpose,  or  the  one  he  thinks  he  can  the  more  easily 
impose  on. 

The  clothes  of  the  prisoners  are  washed  in  the  general  laundry. 
They  consist  of  cotton  shirt  and  drawers,  woolen  clothes  if  ordered 
by  the  doctor.  The  clothes  after  being  washed  are  sent  to  the 
block  from  which  they  came  and  distributed  promiscuously. 
There  are  eight  hundred  inmates.  A  prisoner  may  not  have  the 
same  clothes  twice  during  his  term  unless  by  accident.  Knives 
and  forks  are  not  in  use,  as  they  are  not  required.  The  system  of 
ventilation  is  by  flues  leading  to  a  shaft.  Sewer-drainage  from  the 
cells  was  abandoned,  and  a  convenience  at  the  end  of  each  tier  of 
cells  substituted.  The  occupants  of  the  cells  on  each  tier  must  be 
taken  to  this  convenience. 

The  Pentonville  Prison  is  considered  one  of  the  best  con- 
structed and  the  best  conducted  in  England. 

I  had  not  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  governor.  Governors  of 
the  prisons  of  England  are  very  exclusive  gentlemen,  appearing 
only  on  great  occasions. 

The  chief  warder  is  the  man  who  has  the  routine  and  detail  of 
the  interior  management  of  the  prison. 

All  supplies  are  furnished  by  contract  by  government. 

The  prison  officers  are  appointed  by  authority  of  the  home 
office,  and  liable  to  be  transferred  to  any  other  prison  in  the  coun- 
try. It  is  a  regular  service  and  continuous,  the  same  as  the  police, 
subject  to  removal  only  by  the  department  that  appoints  them. 

One  warder  to  ten  prisoners  is  the  regulation  by  law,  exclu- 
sive of  the  staff  officers,  governors,  doctors,  and  clerks,  which  are 
numerous. 

The  cell  buildings  were  when  erected  three  tiers  high.  An 
additional  story  has  been  added,  making  them  four  stories  high. 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  IOQ 

The  whole  structure  covers  about  seven  and  one-half  acres. 
Military  guard  the  inclosure. 

The  chief  warder,  who  had  me  in  charge,  was  very  kind  and 
obliging.  He  was  very  willing  that  I  should  see  and  understand 
all  of  the  management.  He  knows  all  the  details.  Having  put  in 
all  the  time  I  could  spare  on  one  institution,  bade  the  warder  good- 
bye, I  next  went  to  the 

HOLLOWAY  LOCAL  PRISON, 

a  neat  structure  on  the  radiating  plan.  It  is  a  modern  structure 
with  three  blocks  of  cells  three  tiers  high.  It  is  known  as  the 
Holloway  Prison.  None  but  short-term  convicts  are  sent  there. 
The  cells  are  of  the  same  dimensions  as  the  other  prisons  visited, 
with  light  and  ventilation  the  same.  I  next  went  to  the  prison 

WORMWOOD-SCRUBS, 

situated  sixteen  miles  out  of  the  city.  This  is  a  penal  servitude  or 
convict  prison,  and  is  considered  as  the  most  improved  prison 
structure  yet  erected  in  England. 

On  presenting  my  order  of  admission  I  was  taken  in  charge 
by  the  chief  warder.  He  has  been  in  the  prison  service  twenty- 
eight  years.  I  was  shown  everything  that  was  of  any  interest. 
The  warder  was  very  anxious  that  I  should  see  and  understand  all 
of  the  methods  of  treatment  and  the  management. 

There  are  three  cell  buildings  finished  and  occupied.  These 
structures  run  parallel  with  each  other,  about  two  hundred  feet 
apart.  They  are  four  tiers  high,  of  brick,  with  cells  on  each  side  of 
a  twelve-foot  wide  corridor.  The  cell  rooms  and  furniture  about 
the  same  as  in  the  other  prisons,  lighted  and  ventilated  in  the  same 
way. 

No  general  supervision  can  be  had  of  the  interior  of  these 
buildings,  as  they  do  not  connect  only  by  a  covered  passage-way 
running  across  the  front  end  of  the  structures. 

I  went  through  two  of  the  blocks.  They  have  dark,  or  pun- 
ishment, cells  that  were  constructed  for  the  purpose,  and  arc 
adapted  for  it.  They  have  irons,  hand-cuffs  and  shackles,  and  a 
triangle  and  cat,  for  corporal  punishment.  There  is  a  place  where 
all  the  implements  used  for  punishment  of  prisoners  are  kept  ready 
for  use,  known  as  the  chain  room.  There  are  long  chains  to  which 


IIO  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

a  number  of  prisoners  are  fastened  when  being  transferred  from 
one  penal  institution  to  another.  All  convict  prisons  have  the 
same  facilities  for  enforcing  disclipline  and  transferring  prisoners. 

The  officers  are  armed  with  a  short  sword  when  on  duty  with 
any  number  of  prisoners  out  of  their  cells.  They  have  also  police 
batons  or  clubs.  No  productive  labor  or  work  that  required  any 
skill  was  being  done  in  this  prison.  Much  of  the  work  of  erecting 
the  buildings  was  performed  by  convicts  drafted  from  the  other 
penal  servitude  prisons. 

After  seeing  all  that  was  to  be  seen  in  that  prison,  and  having 
seen  all  that  I  cared  to  see  of  the  English  and  Irish  prisons,  I 
looked  about  London  several  days,  visited  Scotland  Yard,  was 
kindly  received  by  Mr.  Jarvis,  an  officer  in  that  service,  whose  ac- 
quaintance I  made  when  he  was  in  Philadelphia  on  business  a  short 
time  ago. 

Before  leaving  London  I  called  on  William  Tatlack,  secretary 
of  the  Howard  Association.  He  has  been  engaged  on  the  philan- 
thropic side  of  prison  matters  for  a  number  of  years  and  is  well  in- 
formed on  the  subject  of  treatment  of  criminals.  He  is  fully  con- 
vinced that  the  individual  method  of  treating  persons  convicted  of 
crime  produces  better  results  to  the  individual  convict  and  society 
than  any  other  known  method.  He  asked  many  questions  about 
American  prisons  and  prison  officials.  He  considers  Captain 
Joseph  Nicholson,  President  of  this  Wardens'  Association,  the 
ablest  prison  manager  in  America. 

The  physical  condition  of  the  inmates  of  English  prisons  is 
looked  after  carefully  by  those  having  charge  of  them,  for  insane, 
epileptic,  or  those  who  likely  would  do  themselves  harm  especially. 
There  is  a  cell  heavily  padded  or  upholstered,  in  which  such  cases 
are  placed.  The  terms  to  be  served  in  any  of  the  prisons  here  are 
short,  mostly  less  than  a  year,  before  they  are  transferred.  Not 
much  can  be  known  of  the  individual  characteristics  of  any  number 
of  them.  The  health  of  the  prisoners,  it  is  assumed,  cannot  be  im- 
paired by  the  length  of  term  served  in  these  prisons. 

The  officer,  when  asked,  said  that  the  death-rate  was  very 
small,  as  when  a  prisoner  was  ill  and  likely  to  die  the  home  office 
procured  his  release. 

Not  more  than  two  or  three  died  in  a  year  in  the  prison.  The 
direction  of  all  prisons  in  England  is  the  same.  All  matters  in 
reference  to  prisons  and  their  management  emanates  from  the 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  Ill 

home  office.  All  records  of  each  prison  go  to  the  home  depart- 
ment. 

After  looking  around  London  several  days,  seeing  much  that 
was  interesting,  I  went  to  Paris  by  way  of  Folkestone  and  Bou- 
logne. It  is  an  hour's  ride  by  rail  from  London  to  Folkestone. 
Then  by  boat  across  the  straits  of  Dover  to  France ;  the  trip  across 
is  made  in  an  hour  and  a  half.  Then  by  rail  to  Paris.  Arrived  in 
Paris  at  6.30  P.M. 

Next  morning  went  out  to  look  around  and  call  on  Mr.  Henry 
Pionneau,  to  whom  I  had  letters  of  introduction.  He  received  me 
kindly,  and  placed  himself  entirely  at  my  service  while  I  remained 
in  Paris.  He  is  a  gentleman  retired  from  business,  speaks  Eng- 
lish, and  has  plenty  of  leisure  time.  Next  day  he  came  and  di- 
rected me  where  I  desired  to  go.  I  waited  on  the  American  Consul 
and  obtained  a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior, 
who  has  control  of  all  the  prisons  in  France. 

I  waited  on  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  and  presented  letter 
from  the  consul;  was  very  courteously  received.  He  was  desirous 
to  further  my  request.  He  gave  me  an  official  order  of  admission 
to  all  the  prisons  that  I  desired  to  see  and  others  that  he  wished  me 
to  see.  He  gave  me  his  card,  and  invited  me  to  call  on  him  at  his 
residence  that  evening.  The  order  of  admission  included  M.  Pion- 
neau, who  accompanied  me  as  interpreter.  We  first  went  to  the 

MADRAS  PRISON. 

On  presenting  the  minister's  letter  I  was  admitted  at  once. 
The  chief  officer  here  is  entitled  Director.  That  gentleman  re- 
ceived us  very  kindly.  This  prison  is  an  old  one,  erected  in  1840. 
Has  six  blocks  of  cells,  each  block  three  tiers  high,  inclosed  by  a 
wall  twenty-five  feet  high.  There  are  nine  hundred  cells  in  all. 
The  cells  are  six  feet  six  inches  by  twelve  feet,  nine  feet  high,  built 
of  brick,  and  plastered.  The  walls  are  painted  in  two  colors.  Not 
much  furniture  in  the  cells;  coarse  woolen  clothes,  wooden  shoes, 
The  cells  are  lighted  by  window  in  the  rear.  There  is  sewerage 
from  each  cell ;  no  supply  of  water  in  the  cells.  The  refuse  empties 
into  a  cask  in  the  basement  of  the  corridor,  where  there  is  a  cask 
for  each  cell.  These  casks  are  emptied  every  twenty  days.  The 
cellar  or  tunnel  under  the  corridor  where  these  casks  stand  forms  a 
conduit  through  which  air  is  forced  by  a  large  fan  through  the 
pipes  leading  from  the  cells  to  these  casks.  Through  the  soil  pipes 


112  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS. 

the  foul  air  is  forced  out  of  the  conduit,  much  of  it  finding  its  way 
into  the  cells.  This  cellar  or  tunnel  is  a  great  nuisance.  I  was  all 
through  the  underground  part  of  the  structure,  and  examined  the 
method  of  sewerage.  There  has  been  no  improvement  made  in  this 
matter  since  the  erection  of  the  structure. 

The  construction  of  this  prison  is  on  the  radiating  plan,  and  is 
exclusively  a  cellular  prison.  One  year  is  the  maximum  term  of 
sentence  to  be  served  in  this  prison.  After  that  the  prisoner  is  sent 
to  another  place  to  serve  the  remainder  of  his  sentence  in  a  congre- 
gate prison,  or  is  transported  to  New  Caledonia. 

The  food  is  not  abundant,  and  of  a  poor  quality.  There  are  a 
set  of  separate  yards  between  the  cell  buildings,  where  the  prison- 
ers have  an  hour  for  exercise  each  day. 

The  Catholic  Church  service  is  held  in  the  center;  the  cell 
doors  are  locked  open  about  three  inches,  which  enables  the  pris- 
oners to  hear  and  see.  There  is  but  one  door  to  the  cell,  which  is 
a  close  plank  door,  and  is  kept  closed  at  all  other  times.  The  cor- 
ridors are  lighted  from  skylights,  but  they  are  not  sufficient  in  size 
or  number.  Any  work  done  is  in  the  cells,  such  as  making  but- 
tons from  the  ivory  nut,  or  cards  to  wind  silk  on,  some  shoes.  The 
work  does  not  count  for  much.  The  sentence  is  for  labor,  and  an 
effort  is  earnestly  made  to  comply  with  it.  I  was  pleased  to  have 
seen  the  Madras  Prison,  as  it  has  frequently  been  referred  to  as  one 
of  the  great  prisons  of  Europe.  I  was  five  hours  in  this  prison,  and 
saw  it  all,  from  the  cellar  to  the  roof.  A  military  guard  is  stationed 
in  the  yard,  at  each  corner  of  the  wall.  I  went  from  the  Madras 
Prison  with  the  feeling  of  having  seen  much  but  learned  nothing. 
I  next  went  to  the 

DE  LA  SANTE  PRISON, 

where  I  was  received  by  the  Director,  A.  Laguesse,  who  was  very 
courteous  and  desirous  I  should  see  all  that  was  of  interest.  I 
found  him  quite  familiar  with  the  work  he  is  engaged  in,  and  un- 
derstands the  Philadelphia  system,  as  he  terms  it,  in  contradistinc- 
tion to  the  Auburn  system. 

In  his  office  there  are  ground  plans  of  both  the  Auburn  and 
Eastern  Penitentiaries.  This  prison  was  built  on  the  plan  of  the 
Eastern  Penitentiary,  the  blocks  radiating  from  a  center,  with  cells 
on  each  side  of  the  corridor.  One-half  of  this  prison  is  used  for 
cellular  treatment  positively ;  in  the  other  half  the  prisoners  go  out 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  113 

to  work  in  shops  in  congregation,  same  as  in  our  American  prisons 
generally.  There  were  about  eight  hundred  inmates,  one-half  of 
whom  were  under  individual  treatment.  Captain  Laguesse  under- 
stands what  he  is  doing.  All  first  convictions  are  in  the  cellular 
side  of  the  prison,  and  are  treated  individually,  unless  some  physi- 
cal or  mental  infirmity  would  indicate  that  the  other  would  be  best 
for  such  persons;  some  of  the  recidivistes  are  also  treated  sepa- 
rately. The  rule  is  not  oositive  for  either  class.  The  Director's 
judgment  determines  which  is  the  proper  treatment  for  all  prison- 
ers. Captain  Laguesse  is  entirely  capable  of  determining  which  is 
the  proper  treatment  in  any  case.  He  has  been  twenty-eight  years 
in  this  service,  not  all  the  time  in  this  prison.  The  service  there  is 
continuous  and  controlled  by  the  Department  of  the  Interior;  offi- 
cers may  be  removed  from  one  prison  to  another,  but  still  remain 
in  the  prison  service.  Captain  Laguesse,  of  the  H4th  Territorial 
Infantry,  is  the  station  he  holds  in  the  regular  government  service. 

Religious  service  is  held  every  Sunday. 

There  is  a  chapel  where  the  Protestant  service  is  held  for  those 
of  that  faith  confined  in  the  prison. 

The  prisoners  go  into  this  separate  chapel  and  occupy  separate 
seats,  not  seeing  each  other;  but  all  see  the  minister  and  he  sees  all 
of  them. 

In  the  center  there  is  an  elevated  structure  about  twelve  feet 
high  and  ten  feet  in  diameter,  on  top  of  which  there  is  an  altar, 
where  mass  is  said  by  the  priest.  The  prisoners  can  all  hear  and 
most  of  them  can  see  the  priest  from  their  cells.  The  lower  part 
of  this  structure  is  used  as  an  office  for  the  chief  warder.  Super- 
vision of  the  .entire  interior  of  the  prison  is  had  from  this  point. 
There  are  no  iron  doors  to  the  cells;  one  wooden  door,  which  is 
locked  open  about  five  inches  during  religious  service.  The  cells 
are  about  same  dimension  as  the  cells  in  the  Madras  Prison,  lighted 
and  ventilated  by  the  same  method.  Cell  ornaments  are  not  per- 
mitted. An  iron  bedstead ;  when  in  use  it  is  about  six  inches  from 
the  floor;  it  is  turned  up  on  its  side,  close  to  the  wall,  during  the 
day.  The  blankets  and  sheets  are  folded  neatly  on  top  of  it.  A 
table  and  stool  fastened  to  the  wall  by  a  chain,  wash-basins,  and 
shelf  are  all  the  furniture.  There  is  a  gas  jet  in  each  cell,  fixed  in 
a  space  in  the  wall  about  eight  inches  square.  On  the  cell  side  of 
this  opening  there  is  a  strong  glass  not  easily  broken.  The  light 
is  at  no  time  under  the  control  of  the  prisoner.  This  arrangement 


114  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

gives  the  officers  good  opportunity  for  supervision.  The  cell  walls 
are  of  brick,  plastered  with  cement,  and  painted  in  two  colors.  The 
walls,  about  four  feet  high,  are  painted  brown,  above  that  white. 
The  corridors  are  painted  in  like  manner.  The  same  system  of 
water-closet  sewerage  as  at  the  Madras  Prison,  which  method  is 
condemned  by  both  directors.  Prisoners'  friends  are  permitted  to 
visit  weekly,  which  the  Director  says  is  too  frequent,  and  does 
more  harm  than  good.  The  industries  are  such  as  can  be  had, 
making  dolls  and  stamping  paper  for  flowers,  tailoring,  and  shoe- 
making.  There  are  fifty  officers,  besides  the  military  guard  placed 
on  duty  in  the  yard  and  outside  at  the  front  entrance.  There  has 
never  been  a  successful  escape;  several  attempts  have  been  made. 

This  prison  has  been  in  use  twenty-seven  years,  and  is  now  in 
as  good  order  as  any  prison  can  be.  Washing  the  clothes  is  done 
outside,  in  the  Paris  laundries.  The  bread  is  good,  made  princi- 
pally of  rye  flour;  meat  twice  a  week.  Prisoners  are  permitted  to 
purchase  extra  food  from  the  prison  kitchen  when  they  have  the 
means  of  paying  for  it. 

Any  one  who  knows  anything  about  prisons  can  see  that  the 
Director  understands  all  the  details  of  the  management  of  this 
prison. 


PENITENTIAIRE  DE  FOUILLEUSE. 

I  next  went  out  to  Fouilleuse  pres  Rueil,  about  twelve  miles, 
where  there  is  an  institution  for  the  correction  of  girls  under  six- 
teen years  of  age.  There  were  then  three  hundred  inmates;  some 
are  placed  there  by  their  parents,  others  by  the  courts  for  misde- 
meanors. They  are  divided  into  separate  associations.  They  are 
cared  for  properly,  and  are  taught  to  work  from  the  first  day  they 
enter  the  institution.  The  little  ones  were  preparing  parts  of 
shirts  used  with  other  more  important  parts  necessary  to  make  up 
a  shirt.  Other  older  girls  were  engaged  in  making  cravats,  fancy 
and  plain.  This  is  intelligent  work,  the  knowledge  of  which  will 
be  useful  to  the  girls  after  leaving  the  institution.  The  important 
feature  of  any  work  done  in  institutions  is  the  usefulness  of  the 
articles  when  made.  This  place  is  two  miles  from  the  railroad 
station.  The  surrounding  country  is  laid  out  in  farms  for  raising 
vegetables  for  the  Paris  market. 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  115 

Madame  Henri  Hubert,  the  Directress,  received  me  very  cor- 
dially. She  went  with  me  to  every  part  of  her  domain,  in  which 
she  takes  special  pride;  she  is  entirely  capable  of  doing  the  work 
she  has  in  hand.  There  is  no  force  used  here.  No  wall,  no  bars, 
nothing  that  would  give  the  place  any  appearance  of  forcible  de- 
tention. Madame  Hubert  says  none  go  away;  they  could  if  they 
wanted  to.  They  are  permitted  to  go  out  on  Sundays;  they  always 
return  on  time.  There  is  no  drill,  no  machine  training  to  show 
visitors  when  they  come  how  near  alike  all  the  inmates  are.  These 
children  look  up  as  if  they  were  at  home;  no  fear  of  punishment 
nor  of  threatened  punishment. 

This  is  the  best  method  of  treating  children  I  have  seen  any- 
where. There  are  about  twenty  acres  of  ground  belonging  to  the 
institution  under  cultivation.  Madame  Hubert  is  happily  adapted 
for  the  work  she  is  engaged  in. 

PETITE  ROQUETTE. 

Correction  for  boys.  The  structure  was  erected  on  the  plan 
of  the  Millbank  Prison  in  London,  and  was  originally  used  for  a 
separate  prison,  but  is  now  used  as  a  house  of  correction.  There 
were  three  hundred  and  fifty  boys  under  eighteen  years  of  age  in 
the  institution,  Some  are  in  separate  cells,  some  work  together  in 
shops  on  light  work,  such  as  can  be  obtained  and  they  can  be 
taught. 

Some  of  the  boys  are  convicted  of  crime,  but  most  of  them 
are  incorrigible  and  placed  there  by  parents.  The  treatment  is 
mild,  and  the  Director  seems  to  know  what  he  is  doing.  When 
the  parents  desire  they  can  take  their  boy  out,  and  put  him  back  if 
they  cannot  manage  him. 

The  structure  is  an  old  one,  and  not  in  good  condition.  It 
was  built  in  1836,  more  than  half  a  century  ago.  The  buildings 
have  been  neglected,  without  any  effort  to  make  any  repairs  to 
parts  decayed  or  worn  out. 

Directly  opposite,  on  the  other  side  of  the  street,  fronts  an- 
other prison,  the  Roquette,  where  convicts  are  awaiting  after  con- 
viction to  be  distributed  to  the  several  prisons  as  their  case  and 
condition  may  require.  Executions  take  place  here  by  guillotine, 
which  is  done  in  public  in  front  of  the  prison  gate.  I  did  not  go 


Il6  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS. 

into  the  Roquette  Prison.  I  had  no  interest  in  learning  anything 
about  executions  or  the  methods  necessary  for  performing  any  of 
the  duties  required  of  a  public  executioner.  I  went  to  the 

CONCIERGERIE, 

the  old  prison  at  the  palace  of  justice  known  as  the  Conciergerie. 
This  prison  is  used  for  persons  when  first  apprehended  or  waiting 
trial.  The  Director,  Captain  Gaude,  received  me  very  kindly, 
stating  that  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  had  sent  notice  that  I 
would  visit  that  prison.  This  is  an  old  structure  of  the  Gothic 
style  of  architecture  of  the  finest  work.  It  is  really  grand.  It  was 
built  six  hundred  years  ago.  Was  formerly  used  as  a  residence  of 
kings  of  France.  It  is  in  good  condition  now,  clean  in  every  part, 
evidently  well  managed  and  properly  directed.  The  cells  are  large, 
well  lighted,  and  in  good  order.  The  floors  are  of  wood,  walls 
painted,  window  in  rear  of  cell.  The  doors  are  wood,  no  inside 
iron  doors;  separate  exercising  yards.  The  same  system  of  drain- 
age from  the  cells  as  at  the  De  la  Sante  and  the  Madras  prisons. 
The  refuse  is  received  in  an  iron  receptacle  placed  in  the  cellar, 
water  running  through  continuously.  These  receiving  vessels  are 
cleaned  out  once  a  week.  Director  Gaude  told  me  that  the  depart- 
ment officials  were  considering  the  subject  of  cell  drainage,  with 
a  view  of  improving  the  present  method.  Many  historic  incidents 
are  connected  with  this  prison.  It  was  here  that  the  massacre  of 
St.  Bartholomew  took  place,  and  where  the  queen,  Marie  An- 
toinette, was  confined  awaiting  execution.  The  room  occupied  by 
her  is  in  the  same  condition  as  when  she  went  from  it  to  the  guil- 
lotine. Here  the  Girondists  were  confined.  The  room  in  which 
they  took  their  last  breakfast  remains  in  the  same  condition  as 
when  they  went  from  it  to  execution.  Madame  Roland  was  con- 
fined here,  and  went  out  with  the  other  Girondists,  of  which  party 
she  was  a  leader.  The  execution  of  this  woman  was  one  of  the  sad 
events  of  the  French  Revolution.  There  are  few  places  in  the 
world  where  more  distressing  events  have  occurred  than  in  this 
"Conciergerie"  Prison. 

On  August  27th  left  Paris  for  Brussels  at  8.15  A.M.;  arrived 
there  at  3  P.M.  I  went  next  morning  to  see  about  getting  into  the 
Belgian  prisons.  I  was  directed  to  the  palace  of  justice.  I  waited 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS. 

on  the  Minister  of  Justice,  who  very  kindly  gave  me  an  official 
order  to  visit  all  the  prisons  of  Belgium.  All  prisons  in  Belgium 
are  under  the  direction  of  the  Minister  of  Justice.  I  first  went  to 
the  new 

PRISON  ST.  GILLES, 

recently  completed  and  directed  by  J.  Stevens,  who  at  once  recog- 
nized me  by  name,  having  had  the  reports  of  the  Eastern  State 
Penitentiary  continuously.  He  has  been  in  the  service  forty  years 
and  is  conversant  with  all  the  details  of  the  subject.  He  has  been 
frequently  in  communication  with  our  Mr.  Vaux  on  the  subject  of 
treatment  of  criminals  and  crime.  Mr.  Stevens  is  an  intelligent 
man,  speaks  and  writes  well  on  the  subject.  After  some  conversa- 
tion with  him  we  were  shown  through  the  prison  in  all  its  parts. 
The  separate  cellular  system  is  carried  out  properly.  There  are 
six  hundred  cells  in  all  and  about  five  hundred  prisoners  confined. 
They  work  in  the  cells.  Everything  is  new  and  bright.  Mr.  Ste- 
vens superintended  the  erection  of  the  prison.  He  introduced  any 
improvements  he  deemed  advantageous  to  the  system.  The  sewer- 
pipe  and  water-closet  in  the  cell  he  abandoned,  and  substituted  the 
bucket  plan,  which  I  think  is  a  mistake. 

The  buckets  are  taken  out  of  the  cells  every  morning  and 
others  put  in  at  the  same  time.  It  requires  two  sets.  At  the  end 
of  each  gallery  is  a  sewer.  The  buckets  are  taken  there  and 
emptied. 

There  are  three  chapels  on  the  separate  stall  plan,  Catholic, 
Protestant,  and  Hebrew. 

There  are  six  blocks  three  tiers  high,  with  a  glass  roof  over 
the  corridor.  There  is  abundance  of  light  in  this  prison.  The 
walls  of  the  cells  and  corridors  are  painted.  The  floors  are  of 
tile.  Complaints  of  prisoners  are  heard  by  the  Director  every 
morning  in  open  court.  The  prisoner  is  brought  into  a  room  for 
the  purpose.  He  makes  his  charge  or  states  his  grievance  in  pres- 
ence of  the  overseer  or  officer  having  charge  of  him.  The  officer 
is  at  liberty  to  question  and  reply  to  the  charge  made.  The  Di- 
rector decides  the  case.  I  next  went  to 

LOUVAIN, 

which  is  an  hour  and  a  half  from  Brussels  through  a  splendid  gar- 
den country.  I  was  at  once  admitted  into  the  prison.  The  Direc- 


Il8  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS. 

tor  received  me  kindly;  he  was  desirous  of  my  seeing  all  of  the 
prison  and  everything  connected  with  it.  He  gave  me  in  charge 
of  an  officer  who  has  been  forty  years  in  the  prison  service,  who 
was  familiar  with  all  the  details.  This  is  the  Philadelphia  prison, 
and  is  so  designated.  The  plans  are  marked  in  that  way.  The 
blocks  are  three  tiers  high,  with  cells  on  either  side  of  the  corridor 
about  the  same  dimensions  as  in  the  other  prison;  six  hundred  cells 
and  nearly  that  many  prisoners.  The  system  is  carried  out  as  it 
was  intended.  All  work  done  in  the  cells.  Exercising  yards  be- 
tween the  blocks.  There  are  many  life-sentenced  prisoners  in  con- 
sequence of  there  being  no  death  penalty  in  Belgium. 

Separate  exercising  yards  between  the  blocks.  Separation  is 
carried  out  as  it  was  intended.  The  work  is  done  in  the  cells — 
shoemaking,  tailoring,  and  matmaking.  The  system  of  drainage 
by  soil  pipes  is  as  it  was  when  the  prison  was  erected.  The  water 
supply  is  in  tanks  placed  under  the  roof;  the  water  pumped  up  by 
hand.  There  are  several  separate  pumps  in  cells.  The  prisoners 
occupying  these  cells  work  these  pumps. 

The  relatives  visit  the  prisoners  once  in  three  months  as  a 
rule,  oftener  than  that  by  special  order.  All  visitors  are  under 
strict  supervision.  There  are  stalls  just  large  enough  for  a  person 
to  stand  in.  These  stalls  face  each  other  with  a  wire  netting  in 
front  of  each,  and  a  two-foot  space  between  the  stalls  where  an  offi- 
cer is  placed  for  the  purpose  of  supervision.  It  may  not  be  an 
agreeable  method  for  visiting  friends,  but  it  insures  surveillance  if 
the  officer  is  observant.  After  all,  the  doing  of  everything  depends 
on  how  it  is  done.  There  is  evident  care  and  attention  in  the  man- 
agement and  direction  and  supervision  of  the  Louvain  Prison. 
Those  in  charge  are  earnest  in  their  endeavor  to  promote  the  best 
interests  of  the  work  conscientiously  and  with  intelligent  judg- 
ment, and  seem  assured  that  their  method  of  treatment  for  crimi- 
nals is  productive  of  the  best  results  for  the  protection  of  society 
and  benefit  of  the  prisoners  when  released. 

The  prisons  of  four  countries  that  I  visited  are  distinct  in  all 
respects.  The  physical  make-up  of  the  people  of  these  countries  is 
different.  Habits,  dispositions,  manners,  and  language  mark  each 
country  as  peculiarly  distinctive. 

While  every  provision  is  made  for  the  care  and  detention  of 
the  prison  inmates,  there  is  little  or  no  consideration  given  to  the 
individual  peculiarities  of  the  criminal,  or  no  thought  as  I  saw 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  119 

manifested  how  best  they  can  be  directed  away  from  the  causes 
that  placed  them  in  their  present  situation  in  life. 

In  each  of  these  countries  the  laws,  and  penalties  for  their 
violation,  are  different.  In  Ireland  and  England  the  inmates  of  the 
convict  prisons  in  physical  appearance  are  much  the  same.  They 
are  mostly  below  thirty-five  years  of  age,  many  of  which  are  first 
convictions,  and  not  of  the  crime-class.  These  facts  do  not  seem 
to  be  considered,  or  any  means  employed  to  rescue  individuals 
from  the  accumulating  crime-class.  The  principle  adopted  is  to 
reform  all. 

The  governments,  climate,  laws,  penalties,  crime,  environ- 
ments, and  people  of  these  countries  are  different  and  distinctive, 
as  are  the  individuals  which  make  up  the  populations  of  these  sev- 
eral countries  in  which  the  prisons  I  visited  are  located. 

I  did  not  examine  anything  of  the  system  of  moral  influences 
in  these  prisons.  What  I  saw  made  these  impressions,  but  it 
would  be  unjust  to  all  to  express  opinions  on  what  I  did  not  see 
fully.  I  seem  to  think  that  the  governments  of  those  countries  can- 
not run  these  institutions  as  we  in  this  country  think  they  ought 
to  be  carried  on.  In  our  prisons  the  system  is  dependent  for  its 
results  on  the  officials  of  the  prisons.  The  best  system  will  be 
ruined  by  a  bad  administration,  and  even  a  bad  system  will  turn  out 
well  if  well  carried  out.  The  Warden  is  the  real,  practical,  respon- 
sible director  of  a  prison. 

Having  seen  all  of  the  Louvain  Prison  I  returned  to  Paris, 
leaving  Brussels  at  1.15  P.M.,  arrived  in  Paris  at  6.30,  where . I  re- 
mained until  the  sailing  of  the  steamship  "Bretagne,"  which  left 
Havre  on  the  2ist  of  September.  In  eight  days  from  that  time  I 
arrived  in  Philadelphia,  United  States  of  America.  The  first  thing 
to  do  upon  arrival  was  to  go  to  the  prison  located  there.  This 
prison  is  known  as  the 


EASTERN  STATE  PENITENTIARY 

for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania.  It  is  situated  in  the  city 
of  Philadelphia,  on  the  north  side  of  Fairmount  Avenue,  near  the 
Schuylkill  River  and  Fairmount  Park. 

This  penitentiary  occupies  ten  acres  of  ground  inclosed  by  a 
wall  thirty-two  feet  high.     The  front  gate  and  only  entrance  opens 


I2O  WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS   AND    CONVICTS. 

on  Fairmount  Avenue.  The  administration  building  on  the  front  is 
of  gray  granite,  purely  Gothic  in  architecture.  The  front  entrance 
is  through  a  fine  Gothic  arch  thirty  feet  in  height,  sixteen  feet  in 
width  to  an  inside  gate,  sixty  feet  between  the  two  gates.  Only 
one  of  these  gates  is  open  at  the  same  time;  when  a  vehicle  passes 
in  from  the  street  the  outer  gate  is  closed  before  the  inside  gate  is 
opened. 

In  the  same  way  wagons,  etc.,  are  passed  out.  The  gate- 
keepers are  always  present,  one  at  the  front  and  one  at  the  inner 
gate.  The  eastern  section  of  the  front  building  is  used  for  the 
warden's  residence  and  the  inspectors  have  their  room  on  that  side. 
The  western  section  is  for  the  resident  physician  and  matron. 

The  center  building  from  which  the  cell  structures  radiate  is 
in  the  center  of  the  ten-acre  plot  of  ground.  This  center  building 
is  forty  feet  in  diameter,  each  corridor  opens  into  it.  There  are  ten 
corridors ;  six  of  them  are  one  story,  the  other  four  are  two  stories. 
Seven  blocks  were  originally  intended  to  complete  the  cell  struc- 
tures. The  green  lawn  that  extended  from  the  inside  gate  to  the 
center  building  has  been  utilized  for  the  erection  of  one  hundred 
cells.  These  cells  or  rooms  would  be  the  proper  term  for  them,  are 
eight  by  eighteen  feet,  eleven  feet  high,  lighted  by  two  skylights  in 
the  roof,  an  inner  iron  door  with  an  outer  door  of  wood  which 
slides  in  grooves.  These  rooms  open  upon  a  corridor  ten  feet 
wide,  sixteen  feet  high,  lighted  from  the  roof  by  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  skylights  to  insure  abundant  light  on  the  darkest  days.  The 
doors  of  these  rooms  are  locked  open  all  the  time,  night  and  day. 
These  rooms  are  supplied  with  as  much  water  as  the  inmates  desire 
to  use.  There  is  an  incandescent  electric  light  in  each  room.  The 
prisoner  has  the  use  of  the  light  until  nine  o'clock.  The  furniture 
consists  of  bed-stand  of  wood,  made  as  simple  and  inexpensive  as 
possible,  the  frequent  renewal  of  which  conduces  to  the  sanitary 
condition  of  the  rooms.  Each  room  contains  mess  pan,  plate, 
spoon,  knife  and  fork,  dust-brush,  hand-scrubs,  hair-comb,  shav- 
ing-brush, two  towels  and  soap.  Razors  are  supplied  once  a  week 
for  any  one  who  desire  to  use  them.  A  loose  tick  filled  with  straw 
for  bed,  three  sheets,  two  pillow-slips,  two  or  more  blankets,  as  re- 
quired. Each  bed  has  a  quilted  cover.  Every  prisoner  has  an 
entire  new  bed  outfit  on  his  admission.  The  bedding  is  renewed 
frequently.  These  corridors,  being  out  of  the  line  of  the  original 
radiating  plan,  are  under  supervision  from  the  center  building  by 


WARDEN    CASSIDY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS.  121 

two  large  mirrors,  set  in  a  position  that  reflects  all  of  these  corri- 
dors to  the  center  officer.  There  is  always  an  officer  on  duty  in 
the  center.  The  entire  structure,  containing  seven  hundred  and 
thirty-one  rooms,  is  under  observation  from  that  point. 

The  other  cell  structures  were  built  previous  to  1829  when  the 
penitentiary  was  first  opened  for  the  admission  of  prisoners.  Ex- 
ercising yards  are  connected  with  the  cells  on  the  ground  floor. 
These  yards  are  eight  by  eighteen,  with  walls  eleven  feet  high. 
The  cells  open  into  these  yards  through  an  iron  latticed  door  on  the 
inside  of  the  cell  wall.  A  wooden  outer  door  secures  the  opening. 
The  wooden  door  is  open  continuously.  The  door  opening  into 
the  corridor  being  also  open  continuously  makes  a  strong  current 
of  air  passing  through  the  rooms  all  the  time.  There  is  a  six- 
inch  flue  leading  from  each  cell  to  the  top  of  the  roof.  There  is  no 
doubt  about  the  ventilation  being  sufficient.  Water  and  electric 
light  in  every  cell.  The  grounds  are  also  supplied  with  abundant 
light  from  thirty  arc  lights  of  two  thousand  candle-power  covering 
every  part  of  the  inclosure.  The  soil  pipes  leading  from  the  water- 
closets  are  eight  inches  in  diameter  and  are  kept  full  of  water. 
They  are  flushed  out  twice  each  day.  They  empty  into  a  trapped 
inlet  that  exhausts  into  a  sewer.  Sewer  gas  cannot  pass  through 
the  soil  pipes,  as  they  are  full  of  water.  Forty  thousand  gallons 
of  water  are  required  for  the  use  of  the  penitentiary  daily.  A  con- 
stant reserve  of  three  hundred  thousand  gallons  of  water  is  kept  on 
hand  at  all  times  in  a  reservoir  of  that  capacity.  There  is  a  ten- 
horse  engine  and  a  pump  of  ten  thousand  gallons  capacity  per  hour 
always  ready  for  use.  This  engine  also  drives  a  flour  mill  which 
makes  all  the  flour  used  in  the  penitentiary.  The  grain  is  pur- 
chased from  the  near-by  farmers,  which  is  always  new  and  good. 

There  is  a  resident  physician  in  attendance  at  all  hours.  The 
sick  are  attended  in  their  room  as  they  would  be  at  their  home. 
Convalescents  are  exercised  in  the  spaces  between  the  cell  struc- 
tures, there  being  ample  room  for  the  purpose.  The  weak-lunged 
are  also  exercised  in  this  way.  This  is  not  play  or  an  excuse  to 
evade  other  duties.  They  must  keep  up  a  regular  brisk  walk  for 
thirty  minutes,  which  is  as  much  as  one  in  their  condition  can  do 
at  one  time.  An  efficient  officer  attends  to  this  work  exclusively. 

All  supplies  for  this  penitentiary  are  purchased  in  the  open 
market  for  cash,  under  direction  of  the  board  of  inspectors,  who 
are  appointed  by  the  Governor  of  the  State. 


122  WARDEN    CASS1UY    ON    PRISONS    AND    CONVICTS. 

The  prisoners  are  employed  at  various  branches  of  industry- 
men's  shoemaking,  women's  shoemaking,  in  separate  departments, 
knitting  hosiery,  matmaking,  cigarmaking,  chairmaking,  weaving, 
brushmaking. 

The  government  consists  of  five  inspectors  appointed  by  the 
Governor  of  the  State  for  the  term  of  two  years  each.  They  elect 
the  warden,  doctor,  clerk,  and  appoint  a  moral  instructor.  The 
warden  is  the  executive  officer,  appoints  all  subordinate  officers, 
and  is  held  responsible  by  the  board  for  the  well-being  of  the  peni- 
tentiary. There  are  forty-five  officers  of  all  grades.  They  are 
trained  and  educated  for  this  service.  Their  tenure  of  office  is  con- 
tinuous, removals  are  only  for  cause.  The  lowest  grade  is  night 
watchman,  of  whom  there  are  six.  All  persons  employed  enter 
the  service  as  night  watchmen,  from  which  grade  promotions  are 
made  to  other  departments  as  vacancies  occur.  Remuneration  in- 
creases with  promotion  and  length  of  time  in  the  service. 

There  are  no  dark  cells  or  any  mechanical  appliances  for  pun- 
ishment; none  are  needed  under  the  methods  of  treatment  pur- 
sued in  this  penitentiary. 

At  some  future  time  I  may  make  more  extended  explanations 
of  my  observations  of  the  Eastern  State  Penitentiary,  as  it  is  open 
for  investigation  by  any  person  interested  in  the  subject  of  prison 
structure  and  system  of  treatment  of  the  inmates. 

The  direction  and  management  of  the  Eastern  State  Peniten- 
tiary is  not  as  most  other  prisons,  a  machine,  that  when  a  part  gives 
out  deranges  the  whole.  Any  part  may  become  deranged  or  get 
out  of  order  without  effecting  any  other  part.  Any  occurrence 
that  may  take  place  is  confined  to  the  immediate  locality  in  which 
it  occurred.  Force  is  not  required  to  direct  or  control  a  single  in- 
dividual. In  this  method  of  treatment  not  so  much  depends  on  the 
ability  or  experience  of  the  director  as  with  any  other  method  of 
prison  management.  The  individual  treatment  system  will  suc- 
ceed under  the  direction  of  any  management  that  will  adhere  to  its 
principles. 

I  thank  you,  gentlemen,  for  your  patient  attention  to  my  de- 
fense of  the  charge  preferred  against  me  by  the  President  of  the 
Wardens'  Association.  If  you  are  not  fully  convinced  of  my  in- 
ability to  attend  the  Cincinnati  meeting,  I  beg  of  you  to  suspend 
judgment  until  some  further  evidence  can  be  produced  that  a 
"dunce  who  has  been  to  Rome  does  not  excel  a  dunce  that  stayed 
at  home." 


'ate  recall 


